Dark Retribution
by Sestren NK
Summary: Story II of the Dark Nemesis Trilogy. Using mind control to make them fight to the death failed. I survived, but what must be done requires for the manipulation of everyone I know. No one will see it coming. KR.
1. Prologue

**Kim Possible: ****Dark Retribution**

_Disclaimer: Bob and Mark made the KP gang. The characters of Ben and Jen Ariel Ferno, Frederick Aremes_ _Elurt, V, and two others are mine._

_WARNING: This is the sequel to my previous KP fic: The Sociopath Episode. This story will make MUCH more sense if you read it first because of character usage and plot, in fact you pretty much have to read it to understand this. This isn't something that says "Gimme Review!" but I'm sure you like your stories to make sense. Also, thanks to everyone who left a helpful review. MUCH appreciated._

_I also intend for this story to be a dark (for the usual KP world) and long one, and I may hit the tip of the rating, just a view of things that could happen to the two after high school but before college. Fluff, violence, language, and odd areas of humor included. Although dark, don't expect anything that will give you nightmares or will disturb you often.  
_

**Prologue**

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* * *

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Unknown Location, USA

Several monitors show another newscast of a successful mission by teen hero Kim Possible and her partner, Ron Stoppable. The news this time around was stopping Duff Killigan from trying to destroy a city in Vegas with a 100-foot golf ball that he drove through the streets.

"_No big. He should've picked a place without a canyon nearby. I couldn't have done it if Ron didn't find that bike ramp nearby. Ron! You're not going back into that casino!"_ Kim told the reporter before chasing Ron.

The signal went dead into static, shortly finding another news report on her and Ron with a crystal clear signal. This time it was about stopping Señor Senior Jr. from opening a teenage nightclub again, but his father Señor Senior Sr. again manipulated the place, using the strobe lights to play with the mind senses of its visitors, forcing most to collapse or become hypnotized. It was clearly an act of revenge on Triple S's account as someone said something bad about him in a magazine. As Junior and his father were shown being escorted into a police car, Kim again was interviewed.

"_So not the drama. Ron bought me here blindfolded as some kind of anniversary surprise, and when I heard nothing but strange groans and Ron stopped responding, I knew something was up. I had Wade guide me throughout the place and take out the main controls to the lights. It was like sophomore year all over again. Can I take this blindfold off now?"_

Then the channel kept changing, every one showing a news report of Kim saving town or the world. Two months after her high school graduation and she was still at it with full force, a surprise to some of the usual villains who predicted that her relationship with Ron would be her downfall.

It wasn't the only monitor in the room with Kim on every channel. There were at least nine other monitors in the same room doing the same thing, but showing different signals on each one, all changing from Kim newscast to Kim newscast, faster and faster. At least fifty various news reports were shown. Abruptly, all of the monitors went dead. The sound of keyboard typing echoed throughout the pitch-black room, only be to lit up again by all monitors turning on. This time, instead of showing news reports on Kim's successes, all kinds of information regarding all the members of Team Possible were revealed on each screen. Physical traits such as height, weight, hair color, blood type and eye color, profiles of each, including detailed information on their backgrounds were all displayed. If someone knew _anything_ about Kim, Ron, Rufus and Wade, it was shown on these monitors. Likes, dislikes, relationship history, school courses taken and grades for each, shoe size, favorite colors, dark secrets, things such as every cuddle buddy that Kim owned, the day that Ron first started crushing on Kim when they were much younger, the days when Kim started dating each of her ex-boyfriends and her current one, Rufus' birthplace and date, Wade's school records, the person who sold Rufus to Ron, Kim's dental records that indicated she needed braces, the mall where she accidentally went into the boys restroom, the pages of the yearbook she appeared in; everything was shown. It wasn't the information this person wanted to know and did not seem impressed by their findings.

Also included were detailed pictures and photos of each throughout the years. The audio that filled the room still consisted of several newscasts of the team's victories all going on at once.

"Just what makes you indomitable…?" a dull voice echoed nearby the center monitors. Most people wouldn't be able to think with all the noise going on.

Whoever their stalker was, he wasn't afraid to perform his research on his biggest obstacle.

"The more I resist, the more I am drawn to you, Kimberly Anne Possible…"

He typed more on the keyboard single-handedly, bringing up more information on Kim and Ron. On the monitor that was displaying Kim's information, it showed a video of her fighting on a rooftop. The feed showed that several henchmen armed with knifes were in a duel with Kim, and she was able to easily fight them off wielding metal pipes for offense and defense. On the screen exhibiting Ron's information, it had a list of all the countries he went into, but more specifically, which schools he had attended. Passport information, airport security cameras, official and unofficial school records were shown. Among them…

"Yamanuchi Ninja School, Japan. No news there… Twice? Hmm, I stand corrected…"

More typing in the dark green room. The researcher tried to get more information on a specific trip to the Yamanuchi Ninja School in Japan. It was documented that Ron went to the school twice, but he was more interested in the first time he attended the school. He knew of Ron's second trip to the school, but not the first. Something felt awkward once discovering the records that Ron entered as an exchange student for a week. It wasn't usual for an American High School student to be allowed access to the private ninja school in Japan. This was definitely no usual transfer trip between schools. Mystical Monkey Power?

"No, that much information is already known. Show me something… interesting…"

It had taken a few minutes to get what he was looking for. A lot of password access, breaking through firewalls, and looking for the specific data. Bingo, a list of all the students attending the school at a particular time all with photos. Just then, a third figure entered the monitor, soon taking up all ten in the room. It was a young girl with Japanese heritage, the only girl smiling in the photo, wrapping her arm around Ron.

"Last name unknown. First name: Yori. Perfect…"

More single-handed typing continued, and her complete profile was brought up. Any and everything known by anyone was shown about her, mostly requiring high-level security access. Information regarding a student at a Ninja Academy usually had regular level clearance; about 98 percent of those listed requiring Level 20 clearance. However, Yori was the only girl in the listing that required Level 50 clearance. This information regarding Yori covered her background as a younger child. Most of her current information didn't require high security access, such as the time she had spent at the school, from 1995 to 2005.

The hacker became interested in her, having a hunch he just had to prove. After a few minutes of typing and bypassing security, words in small typeface covered the entire screen. In seconds he found the information he was looking for.

"A crush on Stoppable?" Mad cackling quickly surrounded the entire room. "Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant…"

The figure then turned off all the monitors with the press of a key, leaving a dark green light emitting from the back of the machines as the only light in the room. He stood up and stretched, popping all the bones in his body, and then walked his way towards a wall in the same room. The only thing visible on the wall was a keypad with numbers on it, oddly done in a non-traditional random order. Instead of the keys in their usual placement of 123, 456, 789, 0, it was 946, 203, 817, 5.

8…2…5…

After five lasers of different colors went through the room and scanned his body, the wall opened, leading to a dark stairway below.

The stalker made his way towards the lower level as the green light of the computer room lit the way, along with some devices on his wrists and his waist. On the walls were countless newspaper reports of Team Possible's world-saving efforts. Any and all documented information in text was put onto the wall. _Kim Possible leads Middleton Mad Dogs to Victory. Team Possible Saves Homeless Children from Flood. Ron Stoppable, sidekick of teen hero, Kim Possible, shown above, was one of many Middleton High School students to graduate in the Class of 2005_… These were just a few examples of what was shown. Every other thing that made it to the papers, from when Kim and Ron were in middle school to now, were pasted on the walls of the stairs. The walk was a long one, consisting of well over ten stories. The newspaper clippings would run past the very end.

After ten minutes or so, the lurker reached the bottom floor 50 stories below, which consisted of nothing but the stairs and a door. This one didn't have a keypad on it, just a plain old door with a broken hole taking the doorknob's place. Of course, to open this one would have to put their hand through the hole and push it through. The room appeared completely empty, save for a bed and a small table with nuts, screws, scraps of metal, wires, and small traces of blood on it. The being walked to the wall farthest from the door, removing a brick and unveiling another keypad. Again, this one had randomized numbers, different from the one upstairs. 735, 849, 260, 1.

5…4…6…

The wall next to the bed opened up, revealing what appeared to be a mechanical arm submerged completely in liquid, protected by a glass tube. The arm was fully functional, but it desired a host. It moved around on its own, as if it were yearning for freedom.

"Patience, my friend. The time will come soon enough. We just need a little more information from your… older brother."

Right next to the tube with the arm in it was another monitor, but this time it was a camera located closer to the source than anything else. It had a live video feed of a girl laying on her bed.

"_Are you for real? Ron, how did… uh huh… Really? Spankin… Okay, I should be ready in a few. All right… Mmmhmm, love you too, sweetie."_

Clearly it was Kim on the phone, ready to go on another date with Ron Stoppable. The figure quickly became disgusted at the sight of Kim anxiously digging through her closet.

"Cherish everything you have right now. You'll see the truth of everything soon enough …"

Just as the video was showing Kim closing the door to her room and ready to take off her shirt to change, the stalker shut the wall door, uninterested.


	2. 01: Repentance

**Chapter 1: Repentance**

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* * *

**

"Thanks for the lift, Mr. Mariano!"

"Aw, shucks, it's the least I can do ever since you saved all those passengers!"

"No big!" Kim modestly said, "Just because a plane doesn't have its landing gear doesn't mean it can't be landed. Hey Ron, you ready?"

"As always, KP!"

* * *

Enter another mission by the world famous Team Possible. It's been a couple of months since the two graduated, making it about three since they started dating. So far life has been treating the couple rather well, and by rather well we're talking normal. Instead of a part-time job, Kim has decided to work at her dad's space center, unfortunately leaving Ron for a job hunt with no luck. Even his beloved Bueno Nacho wouldn't rehire him due to their losses ever since the Diablo fiasco and Ron's inability to balance his job and his missions. 

Still, the couple has managed to make the most out of their summer, often going on dates on Kim's official Ron night (which is still Friday), and even making games out of their missions. The one that the two have been playing lately consists of who reaches the bad guy first; whoever finds them first wins a prize. This can consist of several things, from a date, a meal, a snack, a gift, and so on.

Today's mission isn't any different than the ones the two have been on lately. Sure, Monkey Fist, Killigan, and Dementor haven't shown their faces since Drakken and Shego were tossed in jail, but many more have decided to come out into the open to show their super villainy to the world. But what has lately baffled both Kim and Ron that several of their recent villains, all of them have been teenagers.

The first villain they fought after the Prom, a teenage psychopath by the name of Valia Erocus Ryan, was the first to fall.

When Kim and Ron finally managed to defeat them in a final duel in his underwater lair, Valia forced the couple to escape but ensured that he didn't. To Kim it felt like a noble final, despite his hatred of what the two shared together. Ron had speculated that Val purposely ended his life in order to escape himself, but the two weren't quite sure what to make of it. While Kim and Ron spent a day in the hospital when they were found on the lakeshore, Valia's body wasn't found. At this point, he was only presumed dead.

Two weeks later, however, remains of a mangled and deteriorated body were discovered on the shore of Upperton Lake, where Ryan's lair was located under. It took two days for doctors there to confirm an identity, as the body's appearance matched that of seaweed, lots of it. At first glance, it appeared that it would be impossible to identify. What the doctors noticed, however, were ripped portions of what appeared to be a battle suit and a missing left hand. DNA scans confirmed it was him. He was dead.

His body was identified the same day as his supposed funeral. Because of his dark persona, passionate hatred for human emotions and unquestionable martial arts abilities all at a young age, his death resulted in a cult following.

For the first month since his fall, members of the cult, the Ice Shadows, were the only villains that Kim and Ron faced. They chose to rob ancient artifacts, rare weapons and anything they could get their hands on. They were all dark in appearance and skilled in their abilities, but Kim and Ron took them down just like anybody else.

To them, Valia proved something in his defeat; that you didn't have to be the usual villain. You didn't have to be old and "experienced", you didn't need to follow any guidelines or have the same plot as anybody else. You could be who you were regardless of your beliefs and age and still cause chaos. You just need the drive.

Unfortunately, that's where many of them failed. Valia was an arrogant martial artist who hated his generation and human emotions. He had studied the teen hero scene that Kim and Ron had dedicated their lives to, and he saw so many problems with it. No one really knew why he started his fight against Kim and Ron, but he was more than confident and aware of all of his abilities. His martial arts abilities could only be rivaled by so few, he was an expert in technology and science, he was an excellent strategist, and he couldn't stop what he had begun. His followers believed they shared the exact same traits, but they were wrong.

For instance, one of them was a group that studied witchcraft, consisting of three high school girls, who wanted to show the world who they were. They had the power to summon storms and use the weather against everyone, but that didn't stop Kim and Ron. They were lacking in abilities, especially those in combat, and that allowed for their capture.

* * *

"C'mon, Ron, get with the program!" 

"I would except my parachute's stuck again!"

* * *

None of the Ice Shadows were serious in their plight, however, and this gave Team Possible the advantage of capturing them. Most of their reasons for becoming a villain were for attention, the adrenaline rush, or simply the challenge. None of them got personal with Kim and Ron, didn't care for their relationship or their status, or even about taking over the world or gaining some kind of power that would allow for something like that. Well, a few tried to seize ancient powers, but they didn't have the resources that even confirmed that such things existed. 

If anything, it was truly a fad. A month would pass before all 47 members were captured and sent to jail.

And why not spend the rest of the day on a nice date? While Kim and Ron hadn't been anywhere near as passionate or romantic since the beginning of their intimate relationship, they still do everything together like they had for the last several years. Throughout the months, Kim was trying to ease herself of following fashion trends, social status and image; trying to become more of her own original person. Ron was becoming more of a man than before, his buffoonery in missions lower than ever. Half of this was for Kim's protection, often giving the villain a good beatdown if they laid a finger on Kim.

Of course, Kim still trusted Club Banana for everything and Ron would still lose his pants on missions and take Kim to Bueno Nacho. It was a slow change, but it was happening. Kim was slowly becoming more open to more things and Ron would sometimes be extremely serious on their missions and pull off everything flawlessly, more so than Kim would at times. Sometimes she felt uncomfortable, but most of the time she felt that Ron was evolving into someone more powerful. He was still the kid she grew up with, but seeing him act a man at times got her attention.

* * *

"Another temple?" Ron asked as he descended from the skies above. 

"Well, it _is_ Thailand."

* * *

The couple was now lowering themselves in the jungles of Thailand, sent to capture a gangster named Frederick Elurt. Apparently this was someone who traded information much like Big Daddy Brotherson, but when he eventually got into weapons dealing, it was reported that whoever entered his temple would never come out. It wasn't that much of a surprise when the victim's savings account was wiped and his weapons stolen. 

The reason for this? Kim was soon to find out but was forced to stay at her cousin Larry's again, so Ron decided to speak to someone once associated with Elurt:

Big Daddy Brotherson.

* * *

"Aw, you got me that time!" 

"Indeed I have," Big Daddy proudly proclaimed, "Despite my win, you are quite an opponent, Stoppable. I rather enjoyed that game of checkers."

Ron yawned, wearing what appeared to be a Pixie outfit, "So, can you tell me the information I need?"

"That depends. I'm in the mood for a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors, unless you have any methods to persuade me otherwise."

"I think I've got just the thing."

Ron pulled out a milk chocolate candy bar from a box, taunting Big Daddy with it.

"Milk Chocolate? So your girlfriend has informed you of my weakness. But I digress, I'll tell you what you want to know."

Ron handed Big Daddy the chocolate bar, who was moaning over just the scent of it.

"Fred Elurt. We know what he's doing, but we don't know why."

Big Daddy took a second to gather his thoughts on the subject. "It's simple, really. Why else would you betray the trust of your clients, take their lives, steal their weapons and money?"

Ron didn't know. It could have been anything from power to revenge.

"Try to take over the world. Surely you could have figured that out by yourself, Ron Stoppable."

Ron just groaned, "Oh, yeah. Right."

"You would be wise to be cautious," Big Daddy warned as he waved the candy bar in his hand, "His bodyguards, 'The Hands', are not to be taken lightly. They are the most lethal in the business, the best there is."

Ron just got up, grabbing his box of candy for the Pixie Summer Drive, "Thanks for the info and the heads-up."

"It's what I do best," the big man said with a big smug.

* * *

Kim and Ron's destination was in an ancient temple in Thailand, trapped in the middle of a huge jungle. The two had landed just outside, hiding in front of an idol out front, waiting for the guards to clear. The two kept silent as they listened. 

"_Well, it's the end of my shift,"_ one of them claimed, looking at his watch.

"_Isn't Nal supposed to cover the night shift?"_ the other asked.

_"Probably the wife holding him back again. It'll probably be about ten minutes before he arrives."_

"_I've got this place covered."_

"_I hope so. Good night, Sam."_

"_Good night, Ralph."_

Now the front door only had one guard. He was a young bald with a goatee, armed with a machine-gun and a dark blue suit. He continued to patrol the area alone.

"Okay, Ron," Kim whispered, "I'll head through the front. You sneak on the sides."

"You sure you can handle the front?" Ron asked, "It's probably heavily guarded."

"If I can manage to take out some guards without an alarm being set off, we'll catch Elurt by surprise," she argued. "What? Are you worried about me getting caught or something?"

Ron noticed that Kim had sly curve in her eyes and lips.

"I've seen you do it a hundred times, but yeah. I _care_ if that's what you mean."

"You're sweet, Ron, but I think I can handle it. Ready?"

"Anytime…" he whispered, "Good luck."

Just when the guard noticed a snake on the ground, both Kim and Ron darted off towards the temple, Kim leaping straight through the open entrance, and Ron darting off to the side. There was another wall in front of him, and he managed to run up the wall for a couple of seconds, just enough to grab the ledge above him and pull himself up.

The guard then returned to duty, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. Just another dead snake.

* * *

Lucky for Kim, the hallways of the temple were extremely dark, although light from the rooms lit up portions of it. Security was relatively low, but guards kept their eyes open. Often, Kim found herself on the ceiling, using all of her limbs to keep her body in place, tying her hair up in a bun so it wouldn't be seen. 

After two guards passed each other, Kim lowered herself from the ceiling and slowly crept behind one all the way to the end of a long hallway. Her steps followed his, making no noise as his footsteps silenced hers. He kept his eyes peeled, constantly looking left and right as if he knew there was an intruder. All of the guards appeared this way, however, so it was no imminent threat yet.

Kim almost blew it when the guard stopped, only milliseconds away from her foot touching the floor and making her presence clear. Perhaps it was too late. The guard started sniffing loudly, as if catching an unfamiliar scent. Kim backed away as slowly as she could, trying to keep as quiet as possible as she moved towards the shadows on the walls of the hallway.

"Strawberry…" the guard whispered.

A strawberry scent. Kim had blown it. She completely forgot that she went to the movies with Ron that morning and put on a new strawberry perfume. The movie had ended just an hour before her favor arrived in a jet.

Instantly, the guard turned around with his gun cocked.

Emptiness.

The guard wasn't convinced, however, and he refused to take a calm stance. He continued to sniff the air around him like a guard dog.

"I know you're here somewhere," he whispered with a thick accent. A smile slowly made its way to his face, as if he hadn't experienced any kind of action ever since he joined Elurt's men. That, and it happened to be a female scent.

Suddenly, he was quickly jerked to his side in the shadows as if being sucked by a vacuum. The noises that followed were quiet; a few punches, muffling, and a thick thud.

Kim slowly emerged from the shadows, taking the guard's gun and making sure his body wasn't immediately visible. The dark shadows engulfed his unconscious body, and his dark blue suit worked in Kim's favor, hiding it better than her black shirt.

She continued her slow infiltration towards Elurt's room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ron was still scaling the sides of the temple from outside, but he was much higher and much farther than before, using vacuum-like suction cups to move on the walls of the stone bricks without making any noise. Despite that he stood out in his military black shirt and cargo pants, none of the guards in the area paid any attention to the walls high above them. 

The only sound that could be heard was Ron's whimpering as he clung on the wall like a spider some 60-feet above ground.

* * *

Kim had a hard time getting past the storage area, a huge room with nothing but giant crates with eight guards in the room. Instead of trying to walk in-between the crates and risk getting easily caught, Kim managed to climb on top of the crates. She was definitely out of everyone's range of vision, but her problem lay elsewhere: the lights. Spotlights were the only objects lighting the room, moving back and forth on their own will. These were not the types that would detect anyone and set off an alarm, as nobody monitored them. However, depending on the angle of the light if it hit Kim, a giant shadow of her would be revealed, blowing her cover again. The only way to avoid this would be to lay as low as possible, but it would require a lot of time and patience. 

So Kim had to take a few things into consideration. First was the obvious, make it past the door without being detected. Second, she had to make sure to get from crate to crate without being seen or heard. Third, avoid the spotlights.

There were a total of sixteen 25-foot high crates in the room, spanning at least 20 feet on each side. Four rows of four crates. Kim easily made her way past two of them before she noticed a spotlight heading straight her way, and fast. She immediately went flat on her stomach, but there was a factor she missed: her hair. It was still tied up in a bun, and its length would blow it. She quickly scrambled to remove the band that was keeping it in place. Kim was able to remove it, and just as she flattened her arm on the crate, the spotlight flew past her. No shadow was cast.

Instead of running past the crates and jumping on the next with no regard to her stealth, as she was doing before, Kim decided to slowly crawl to the edge to see if any guards were nearby.

The guards were gathered on the far end of the room, but they seemed to be on high alert. She tried to hear whatever they were whispering.

"_I think I saw something. It kind of looked like a cat, but a really big one."_

"_Search the area."_

At least half of the guards, four of them, went off to investigate. They were all aware of Kim's presence, so she thought, but they couldn't confirm a visual. Kim knew she had to keep low, but the spotlights approaching made her nervous, but then she got an idea after flattening herself again.

The spotlight again flew over her without a shadow being cast. Kim observed the remaining four guards on the floor, and despite that they all wore sunglasses indoors; they were slightly blinded by the spotlight as it flew past them. The next time this would happen, she would make her move. Tricky, but the door was closer than she thought.

To ease the risk, Kim slowly crawled across the gap to the last set of crates to get a closer view. She was silent, but managed to get across silently. She crawled as silently as she could to the end of the final crate that she was on. The remaining guards were in perfect view. The spotlight was approaching again, and Kim flattened herself against the crate, readying herself. The spotlight would soon come across her body and then towards the guards below, temporarily blinding them.

Suddenly, the spotlight shut off, and fast footsteps were heard.

"_Grey's been found unconscious in R-3. His weapon has also been taken."_

"_We've also gotten reports that many of our guards on the outer walls have been incapacitated."_

"_Intruders. Storm the area."_

"_Should we inform the boss?"_

"_Only if you have a death wish. The Hands and Lord Elurt are not to be informed of this. We must find the intruders and handle them ourselves. I want two of you to stay and guard the entrance of the room. The rest of you, come with me."_

The guards had found one of the other guards that Kim knocked out, and it sounds like Ron took out a few of his own. Fortunate for Kim, there were now two guards in the room, and they guarded the area where she entered. After all the others left the room, she jumped off the final crate, using her rocket shoes on low power to slow her descent onto the floor below, then darted off.

* * *

Ron had no idea why Elurt's guards didn't broom or clean the area high above where he was at. He was on the roof of the temple, where several rocks and dirt were scattered. Exhausted, Ron just grabbed a rock and tossed it for no reason, then suddenly remembered he was in stealth mode. He gasped as the rock was falling near a guard, and that would've been it. The end. Game over. 

Instead, the rock hit the guard straight on the head, knocking him over the edge of the temple and into the jungle below. Ron tried it again with the same results, but once a guard came running toward the area, Ron made sure to stay clear and continue his way toward Elurt's room through the high areas of the temple.

* * *

Kim should've known the guards would be alert to their presence. She couldn't remember a time where she and Ron went into stealth mode and _weren't_ discovered at all. At least this time, the guards couldn't confirm a visual, but Kim knew that wouldn't last much longer. 

She was a bit perplexed about her approach. She continued to move at the same rate she was moving before, but while the place was on high alert, she didn't notice any security guards at all. Most of their focus was towards the areas where guards had been taken down. Shouldn't they have been storming all floors in search of the enemy? Kim didn't take any time to think about it, since she currently had the advantage. Perhaps Ron did as well.

Kim ran as fast as she could throughout the place, knowing this was a better time than ever, darting past the halls and stairs while trying to keep quiet. What would have taken at least an hour or two to quietly infiltrate took only seconds to storm through.

A few minutes passed until she was on the top floor, but she came to a stop as she noticed some noise nearby. The sound of running water was coming from one of the rooms on the sides, but at the end of the hall was a huge room. As she got closer to it, she could start hearing a lot of commotion. Was this it?

Ignoring the running water sound and making her way toward the room, she found it to be empty. It was huge, but empty. She could still hear the commotion as if it were ghosts. Kim wasn't one to believe in ghosts, and a small vent on the floor only confirmed her belief deeper.

She was on the floor right above Elurt's lair.

Peeking through the vent, Kim could see Elurt sitting on some kind of throne celebrating some kind of victory as he held a glass of wine in his hand. Kim dug out her Kimmunicator to get a background check.

_Name: Frederick Aremes Elurt  
Age: 45  
Gender: Male  
Height: 195  
Weight: 280 pounds  
IQ: 163  
Blood Type: Unknown  
Family: Unknown  
Race: Caucasian, Italian  
Primary Method of Attack: Unknown  
Fluent in English, Italian  
Weapons Experience is Unknown  
Military Experience is Unknown  
Expert in business practices, political studies_

It wasn't much, but just enough for what Kim wanted to know.

Elurt had the appearance of a pompous Englishman, having white-blonde hair that hung to the back of his neck like a mullet. He had a thick black mustache and a bit of a goatee. He wore a red tuxedo and appeared pretty large, muscularly.

But the man wasn't one without his bodyguards, and there were several. Officially named "The Hands," sixteen bodyguards surrounded the room, and they looked extremely lethal. They varied in appearance, from young to old, male and female, small and huge, of various races and hair colors. Some of them were reading magazines, huge books, sharpening their knifes or blades among other things. One of the female hands was disassembling her gun and then putting it back together as fast as she could. It took her less than five seconds to completely assemble an automatic machine gun. All of them were armed with dangerous weapons and looked extremely trained. Obviously these bodyguards were not in the job for community college credits.

Elurt's room itself was huge, but it was a mess with several small wooden crates scattered through the room, some of which the Hands rested on. Most noticeable to Kim was a huge window on the side, perfect for sneaking in. She hoped Ron was closing in, even though she located Elurt first. She won.

Kim had an idea, however. There were so many bodyguards, and she doubted that Elurt would remember who they were face-to-face and eye-to-eye. If she could sneak in disguised as one of them, perhaps she could initiate some kind of sneak attack right in front of the enemy. Elurt would be taken off guard and wouldn't have a chance to escape.

But where to get the outfit? They didn't wear their clothes any different than the rest of the guards.

Kim then noticed some noise behind her. As the sound of running water came to an end, she got up and approached the area where the noise was coming from. She nearly slapped her head as she realized she passed by a door with a little man on it, the sign reading "MEN'S", and a toilet flushed. More running water was heard, probably a guard washing his hands. Oddly, he took his time with it. She could hear him from outside.

"_I don't understand how half of these guys don't shower. Is it a crime to actually want to smell good on the job? My wife would throw me out the window if I never kept myself clean."_

How cute, he was married, but Kim knew she had to take this guy down.

She slowly opened the door and held it open for him, but hid herself behind the door. The guard came out of the bathroom; stretching and making sure his hands were clean. That's when Kim slammed the door as hard as she could into his face, quickly knocking him out.

"Don't take this personal," she whispered as she took off his shirt.

A minute later, Kim came out of the ladles room, and her appearance had completely changed. She was wearing a dark blue suit, which had a good amount of collogue on it, sunshades and a short blonde wig.

"Go time."

* * *

Downstairs, Elurt was still enjoying the sunset through the glassless window, although his glass of wine had been empty for some time. A young woman in her mid-twenties offered a refill, but as she turned around, Elurt slapped her behind hard enough to knock her down. 

Elurt just laughed, "Continue to get me more, maiden. And by the way, you've gained some weight in your rear. I like that."

The woman tried as hard as she could to hide her disgust in her boss, but refused to look at him as she picked up the tray and broken glass pieces of what was once the pitcher. She made her way to the door, passing one of the blonde bodyguards.

"I don't see how you can be so loyal," the woman whispered.

Kim acknowledged. So far her disguise was working rather well as no one was noticing anything, not that they were paying attention. Originally she was going to go straight on the offensive, but the Hands gave her the creeps. Among them was a giant man with a small hat, a mustache and goatee on his infant-shaped face, an older man that had a physical resemblance to an Asian dragon, a girl so slim that Kim almost got jealous, but with ice-piercing blue eyes on her pale face, and a dirty male with huge eyes that acted like a snake with his sword, touching it with his tongue. These were more than theatrics.

Suddenly, everyone turned their head as a projectile weapon flew inside the room. The Hands recognized it immediately.

"Flash Grenade!"

Kim covered her eyes.

"Everyo-"

_**BOOM**_

All but three of the guards fell completely unconscious.

Kim was familiar with this weapon, one that would unleash a blinding light into the air. However, it had dire consequences if one would have their eyes open. It would blind anyone who kept his or her eyes peeled in the mist of the explosion, and anybody looking directly at the bomb itself when it went off would be completely incapacitated.

A loud battle cry was soon heard as Ron launched himself straight into the room and got into a battle stance.

"Four against one. I like them odds!"

Elurt was among those who shielded his eyes, but he relaxed himself as Ron and his Hands were to put on a show. The ones that freaked Kim out were the ones who were still standing, with the exception of one. There was the dragon-like elder, the snake-tongue, and the giant.

All of them struck, and Ron quickly went into battle. The snake-tongue attacked with his sword, carelessly swinging it around, but strong enough to destroy anything in its path, such as the walls and scattered crates. His eyes were wide open, endlessly laughing with a malicious stare the entire time. Ron didn't seem to be intimidated, however, backflipping onto the wall behind him, and then thrusting himself forward, wrapping his arm around his opponent's neck as the two crashed into the floor.

One down, three to go.

The dragon-like elder was next, using the Praying Mantis style against Ron, but he was slow in his moves. Kim was able to analyze the technique. Most often, attacking slow in specific forms would confuse an opponent, but for some reason, it wasn't confusing Ron at all. He didn't give the old man any time to think about it, quickly smashing his opponent's head into the wall with just his fist.

Two down, two to go.

Without any warning, the giant grabbed Ron from the arm and started swinging him around, almost dislocating his arm in the process, and getting him a bit queasy from the speed. The giant then let him go, sending him straight into the last guard's way.

"Incoming, blondie!"

Kim's eyes widened when she realized there were only three guards, not four. Wait a minute, unless that meant Ron was heading straight for her. But…

She never contacted him about her disguise.

"Ron! W-"

**BAM**

Ron's elbows slammed into the blonde guard, burrowing her skull deep into the wall. She stood stationary for a few seconds before she fell flat on her face, unconscious.

Three down, one to go.

Ron stood firm in front of his last opponent across the room, who cracked his neck and knuckles.

"Come on, big man. Show me what you've got!"

The man gladly accepted the challenge, grunting and charging his legs like the wheels of a train. Soon he was making noises like one, too.

Ron just stood firm in front of him, not appearing to be intimidated.

Now the man started grunting like a bull, letting out a roar of a bull.

Ron pulled out a bag of chips and just stood there.

Now the man was ready to charge, and from across the huge room, started rushing towards Ron.

Ron yawned.

The giant was closing in.

Ron stretched, blowing a bubble of gum.

Still approaching.

Ron moved his body to his sides, popping his spine.

Finally, the giant guard got in close range, and just as he raised his arms up before sending them on Ron, the small blonde teen in front of him placed his fingers in five areas of his chest and twisted them.

The giant fell down, completely unconscious.

"Booyah!"

Ron was surprised that he emptied the room in such a quick time, but he noticed that Rufus came onto his shoulder, squeaking much more than before.

"What is it, buddy?"

"Kim!"

"Kim? Where is…"

He quickly turned his head to where Rufus was pointing, toward an unconscious redhead wearing a blonde wig. Ron almost had a panic attack.

"Oh no… Kim!"

He immediately rushed towards her, trying to pick her up.

"Kim! Oh my gosh, I am soooo sorr-"

A loud slap could be heard far outside. 

Ron was thrown so far that he crashed straight through one of the crates in this room. At this point he would've preferred to be knocked out as the wooden debris stabbed various areas of his back, mostly in the form of splinters. He looked up and found Kim standing before him with a bloody nose and tears in her eyes.

"Ron… How could you?" she practically yelled.

Ron groaned from the pain in his back, "Kim? But how… I don't understand!"

"You didn't have to attack _everyone_ in the room, Ron!"

The anger was so fierce in her that her face and eyes were red, tears coming out from both eyes.

"I didn't attack _everyone!_" Ron tried to explain, "Just the bodyguards, but…"

The pain in Kim's head wasn't allowing her to think straight, and just as Ron said this, a helicopter came close to the window on the side of the room. Elurt was inside, flipping them off. The helicopter then flew away.

Kim was even angrier than before, "Now look what you did! He got away!"

"Now hold on just a minute!" Ron abruptly snapped as he got up, "How was I supposed to know you were in disguise, Kim?"

Kim quickly pushed Ron back onto the broken debris of the crate, "I'll be the one asking the questions here, mister! How could you knock me out just like that?"

Ron was starting to get tired of Kim putting all the blame on him, "And slapping me and pushing me around like that is supposed to help? Don't you dare try to blame me for all of this!"

"You think it's my fault the bad guy got away? I didn't do this to myself, you know!"

"Remember when you told me about going in disguise? Oh, that's right, you didn't!"

"Don't you get all smart-ass with me, Ron Stoppable!"

"I'm not going to just stand here and take all of this crap from you, Kim Possible!"

Kim was extremely furious at this point, about to slap Ron again, but he managed to block it with his arm.

Kim was just silent now, speaking in a low tone, "What kind of boyfriend are you?"

He also lowered his tone, "The kind that doesn't let his girlfriend beat him around."

It appeared that the two were coming back to their senses as Kim stopped applying pressure with her arm, lowering it from Ron's arm. He was about to inspect her face to see if it was red because of her mood or if it was him, but she pushed his hand away.

"Don't touch me."

"Kim, I'm sorry, I-"

"I said don't touch me."

The pain in the back of Ron's head was starting to cease, and he was getting a grip on himself.

"Kim… I'm sorry. You know I would never hurt you intentionally. Not now, not ever."

Kim turned away from him, touching the areas on her face where Ron struck.

"Maybe next time you'll be more careful," she quietly muttered.

"Maybe next time you'll tell me you'll disguise yourself as the enemy," he retorted.

"Will you just shut up?" Kim demanded.

"Not with that attitude," Ron quietly answered. He wasn't going to let Kim get the last word and make him feel like everything was his fault. Lately he had been standing up for himself instead of blaming himself, thanks to Kim.

Kim just turned her head and made her way to the window, noticing the clouds approaching. She pulled out her Kimmunicator and pressed a few buttons on it before putting it away. A minute later, the private jet landed just outside, and Kim went out alone, diving out the window. Ron followed, but he kept his distance from her.

Rufus on the other hand couldn't believe what had just happened.

* * *

The ride back to Middleton was a quiet one. Kim and Ron sat on opposite sides of the plane, both taking the window seats and staring at the scenery outside with narrowed eyes. The peaceful orange and red sunset soon turned into a thunderstorm over the Pacific Ocean, keeping the plane dark and eerie. 

None of that mattered to the two teen passengers. Kim couldn't believe that Ron screwed up the mission and that he actually hit her, and he couldn't believe Kim tried to blame everything on him and threw him into a crate. She didn't even concern herself with the fact that Ron's entire back was stained with blood, although Ron was fully aware of Kim's bloody nose, but she wouldn't let him touch it.

They were mad at each other, all right.

When the pilot spoke over the intercom that he was flying above Middleton, Kim quickly and quietly walked toward the emergency exit, put on a parachute and her helmet, and jumped off the plane, all without saying a word. Ron watched Kim through the window, freefalling for a brief moment before releasing her parachute. Once she was no longer in visual range, he walked up to the same exit, grabbed a parachute and a helmet, put it on, and jumped from the plane. He did this without saying a word as well.

* * *

Back at their homes, both of their parents were shocked to find blood all over their kids. The first thing Kim's mom saw was that Kim had blood coming from her nose and staining all of her clothes, and quickly inspected her face and head for any serious injuries. Kim didn't say much when her mom asked what had happened. 

"Part of the mission," she answered bitterly.

Ron's mom also noticed blood all over Ron's back when he came through the door, quickly removing his shirt, getting the rubbing alcohol and a pair of tweezers to remove whatever splinters were still in his back. Ron also didn't say much when his mom asked him what happened.

"Part of the mission," he answered quietly.

Both of them spent the rest of the day in their rooms, still frustrated at what had happened. Both of them had gotten tempted to call the other, but put the receiver down at the thought of the other not willing to listen. Kim was still adamant that she didn't do anything wrong, while Ron was adamant that he wasn't completely at fault.

Both of them had actually called Wade, but he refused to answer their calls. Wade had heard everything through the Kimmunicator, as Kim would sometimes put it away and not actually turn it off. He didn't mean to intrude on Kim's privacy, but when he heard the two yelling at each other, he couldn't help but listen in. This wasn't something he wanted to get involved in.

Kim and Ron tried to keep themselves busy throughout the night, but Kim got infuriated just reading her teen magazines, and Ron couldn't play a game without getting more frustrated than ever when he lost or got hit. Ron had it better than Kim, though, as beating around zombies and terrorist soldiers was a good way to ease his anger, although the sight of blood on the screen was a constant reminder of today's events.

When it finally came to the end of the night, both were tempted to call each other again, but instead of getting frustrated, both just lost the courage to confront the problem, and it didn't help that their heads were still in so much pain to think straight. Both fell asleep with the phone receiver in hand, but they didn't sleep well that night due to the pain. Try sleeping well when your head is slammed through a hard stone wall or when you're shoved through a thick wooden crate. Hours passed like minutes.

* * *

That morning, Ron was channel surfing on his dad's cable, looking for anything that might be of any interest. Unfortunately, most of his new favorite cartoons were on Friday and Saturday nights, not the cartoons in the morning. 

Ron's mom handed him an envelope from behind, "Mail's here. This one's for you."

He didn't seem to care much, "Lemme guess, another credit card offer since I'm heading to Middleton Community College?"

It wasn't. The address was from the Bueno Nacho Corporation in Bay City, California.

This actually surprised Ron, almost to the point where he fell off the couch. Bay City was a new city near San Francisco, but from the reports on TV, it quickly evolved into a giant futuristic utopia where several businesses enterprises organized. He also recalled hearing rumors that the new Bueno Nacho HQ was located there after the previous one was shut down. Inside appeared to be no more than a letter.

_ATTN: Mr. Ronald Stoppable_

_You are requested to come to a meeting at the Bueno Nacho Enterprises Headquarters in Bay City regarding new business practices. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss new advertising and food campaigns in order to revive the former name and glory that Bueno Nacho was known best for before the company was brought by Dr. Drew "Drakken" Lipsky and created the worldwide "Lil' Diablo Toy Scare._

_Being Bueno Nacho's #1 customer and being the inventor of the "Naco," we request your assistance in helping us bring back our company to its former glory. We will listen to every thought you wish to share, and we take our customers very seriously, as the company has a brand new leading staff enthusiastic about their work._

_If you decide to accept our offer, enclosed is a plane ticket to Bay City. I will personally cover your entire trip. We hope we can help you as much as you have helped us before and hopefully soon._

_I look forward to meeting you in person, Mr. Stoppable._

_And have a "muy bueno" day._

_Sincerely,_

_Benjamin Aaron Ferno  
President  
Bueno Nacho Corporate Offices  
Bay City, California_

Surprised, Ron grabbed the envelope to see if this was authentic and not some prank, but sure enough, the envelope had the authentic Bueno Nacho logo on the back of it. Right ink, right color, everything, but it appeared more high quality than the envelope that originally had his millions before Drakken stole it.

This was the real deal.

Ron didn't completely open the letter as it was folded, and pulling back the last fold, a plane ticket and a sticker fell out. However, he noticed there was a bit more to Ferno's letter.

"_P.S. The meeting will take place on Saturday, July 23nd, 2005 at 8 PM at the Bueno Nacho Enterprises HQ. Floor 80."_

'_Two days,'_ Ron thought. That didn't give him much time.

After putting everything back in the envelope, Ron quickly ran up to his room and started packing. Clothes, extra pairs of pants, any and all mission equipment just in case, cell phone, bathroom gels and hygiene equipment, Rufus, and everything he needed for a vacation. Only one thing was missing:

Kim.

But the thought of her didn't force a smile on his face. Something about this situation made him feel more confident about who he was and what he could do. As he carried his suitcase out of the door, and after telling his mom he was heading out, he started to walk to the airport.

_'You watch, Kim. I'm not just some partner who screws everything up. I'll show you what I'm capable of. I can help rebuild Bueno Nacho, and I'll do it alone. Then you'll see me on the news and you won't see me as the buffoon anymore, not you or anybody else, Kim.'_

When you're still seen as the sidekick and still get taunted by the villains, you're bound to get tired of it sometime.

At least for Ron, the way to the airport didn't involve walking past Kim's house. Wearing a blue jersey, a backpack, and dragging a suitcase on the sidewalk, he took the time to observe the scenery at Middleton in the morning. It was the usual summer scene; little kids playing in the streets, sometimes being watched by their parents, people jogging, some with pets, but that was really it. Ron remembered in his younger days that his so-called peers would often come out and play and the streets were usually crowded, but he wasn't surprised if people were on the Internet or watching cable TV instead. Also, with all of the Middleton graduates, they probably were at work or still looking for a part-time job.

Ron guessed it was just part of growing up. No more time to go outside and play, not that he was an outie, anyway. He was an innie, usually playing games or watching TV, and the only time he would go out was on missions or dates or even just to hang out with Kim. Now that he thought about it, it was more often than he realized. He really _wasn't_ an indoor person.

Life sure had changed over the years. He could see all of the kids who went to school with him in the past playing in their yards or playing sports in the streets. Today, the streets were virtually empty.

Ron had been walking for at least forty minutes, almost forgetting why he was outside in the first place. There it was. A few blocks from the neighborhood was the airport. At least the neighborhood where Ron and Kim lived was in the middle of everything. Only the outer areas of Middleton were heavily populated with buildings, street highways, and the airport. Ron liked it because it was like a donut and he lived in the middle.

He arrived there a few minutes before lunch began, so whoever worked at the airport scrambled to get him and his equipment on the plane before his lunch break. Because Ron had a ticket that would allow him on any flight at any time, as long as the location was the same, they put him on the next flight to Bay City.

His plane was to leave in less than fifteen minutes.

Goodbye for now, Middleton.


	3. 02: Indulgence

**Chapter 2: Indulgence**

**

* * *

**

_"I repeat, for the last time, the plane has come to a stop. Please leave the plane in an orderly fashion."_

At least everyone who worked on the plane surrounded the last person on the plane, who simply would not wake up.

"I think he's dead."

"A kid like him? He looks in pretty good condition to me."

"If you ask me, it looks like he came out of hell."

"Well, he's got a pulse. Coma?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. We've used everything to wake him up, but he just won't move."

Ron just didn't want to wake up. He had slept the entire way, but the trip was over and he needed to get off. He had already been sleeping in the plane an hour after it landed.

"I can't take anymore of this. Just toss him off the plane."

* * *

Later that afternoon, Ron started to come to, but woke up confused. Lucky, a naked mole rat sat near him, also waking up. Getting out of the garbage dumpster, Ron realized that he was just in the back of the airport in Bay City. He had arrived at his destination, but not in the manner he had hoped. 

"Aw man, this is the third time this month this has happened to me!"

Indeed. Sometimes Kim and Ron were so exhausted from their missions that they fell asleep on their plane ride, and it would be impossible to wake them up. Speakers, blow horn, drums, crying baby, anything; they would not wake up and be tossed out of the plane after it landed. Every time this happened to Ron, Kim also suffered the same fate, and she would force him to help clean her up, taking at least two hours. Kim was not a good friend of the dumpster, but neither was Ron.

Ron cleaned off whatever he could from the dumpster, but at least he had been tossed on a lot of garbage bags instead of just plain garbage. Oddly enough, he found a can of air freshener near him, which he used to make his scent presentable. He located an entrance nearby and headed straight in.

Huge.

Both Ron and Rufus were in awe. They couldn't tell where they were anymore. It was a huge open building that was crowded, but the architecture was nothing but glass and metal, obviously done by creative artists. People were running around on cell phones, the stores that the girls would come in and out of and of course loiter looked like those huge Club Banana stores in those huge malls you read about, there was the sound of an arcade nearby, and half of these people didn't look like they were coming in or out of flights. Did they run into a mall?

"Welcome to Bay City. We hope you enjoy your stay. In the meantime, please consult any of our employees for any help you may require and they will be glad to assist you. Flight 701 to Go City will be leaving in seventeen minutes."

It was the airport. Ron was surprised, but then again, the messages on the listing of arrivals and departures had the city's slogan on it: "Welcome to the Future." Ron was convinced, but he hadn't seen anything yet. However, he needed directions, and located a girl nearby who was moving some luggage.

"Hey, um, excuse me?"

"Yes?"

The girl turned around, appearing to be Japanese with short black hair. She almost looked familiar to Ron.

"Yori? That's not you, is it?"

"I beg your pardon? Have we met?"

No deal. This girl was wearing purple contacts and had a bit of makeup and earrings, and most noticeable was the lack of an accent. Not Yori's style.

"Sorry, you reminded me of someone. Anyway, can you tell me where Bueno Nacho HQ and the Emerald Glow Hotel are from here?"

The girl turned her head as if she were looking for something, then noticed a brochure nearby on a desk, took it out and opened it. She also pulled out a red marker from her pocket.

"Here's a map. Okay, right now you're here."

The girl pointed to the airport on the map, circling it with the marker.

"Five blocks west is the hotel. All entrances face west, so leave and just head straight, but you'll want to leave on Entrance B."

The girl circled the location of the hotel on the map.

"Okay," Ron acknowledged, "Entrance B, head straight for five blocks."

"Correct," the girl confirmed, "And Bueno Nacho HQ is seven blocks north from the hotel. Exit the hotel and look north, and you should be able to see it."

The girl also circled Bueno Nacho HQ on the map. Ron was thankful that the directions were simple.

"Got it," Ron smiled as he took the map, "Thanks a bunch. Really appreciate it."

The girl smiled and bowed, "You're welcome. Hey… You're Ron Stoppable, aren't you?"

"You've… heard of me?"

"Who hasn't? You're the guy that saves the world with that one girl."

This surprised Ron, as he thought _everyone_ had heard of Kim Possible and not him. This girl just proved him wrong.

"That's one way of putting it," he unenthusiastically answered.

The girl instantly became ecstatic, "Wow. It's kind of strange to be standing right in front of someone who saves the world regularly. Please, if there's anything else you need, be sure to ask. By the way, my name's Yuri."

Ron observed the girl's nametag, "Yuri?"

The girl let out her hand, "Yuri Yamazaki. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Stoppable."

Ron calmly shook it, "Just call me Ron. If I need to know anything, I'll let you know. Thanks."

With that, Ron slowly trailed off and walked into the crowd. Yuri just waved from behind him.

"Come back again!"

Within seconds, Ron disappeared into the crowd.

"Well, that's awkward. It's always Kim Possible and the sidekick, and now it's Ron Stoppable and that one girl."

Rufus nodded, "No kidding."

"I kinda like it."

* * *

Ron had no idea however, that he was being followed. Not by Yuri, but someone wearing a hat and a trenchcoat. The girl pulled out some kind of communicator. 

"I have a visual. Stoppable's here."

* * *

It was weird having all the attention at once, but Ron actually felt a bit of discomfort in it. He knew that if he continued to talk to Yuri, eventually he would have to talk about Kim. Inside he still felt bitter about her, much less than before, but still bitter nonetheless. 

Knock on wood.

Some teenager approached him from behind. He carried a gruff voice.

"Hey, you're Stoppable, aren't you?"

Ron really didn't bother to turn around, "Which one?"

The husky teen just laughed, "Ron! Wow, it's really you. How awesome is that? I get to meet Ron Stoppable! Isn't that one girl always with you? The redhead? What's her name…?"

"Kim. Kim Possible?"

"Kim! That's her name. You sure have something there, buddy."

"Meaning?"

"She's on fire, dude."

"That's not why we're dating."

"You sure? I wouldn't mind someone like her in my life. Not that I'm trying to talk smack about your girlfriend, but she's a rare one."

"Can we not talk about her like that?"

Suddenly, the teen's voice changed, "You sure can be touchy when it comes to Kim, huh?"

Ron instantly recognized the voice, one he hadn't heard in months. He quickly turned around.

"Nev?"

Nevren Aloces Killbourne, former ally to Team Possible.

"How long's it been, buddy?"

Before Ron could answer, Nev gave his old friend a huge bear hug, squeezing the life out of Ron and giving him a noogie. Ron almost lost his balance when he was released.

"Two-three months?"

"That… sounds about right," Ron coughed and hacked, getting his breath back. "What are you doing here?"

Nev just tilted his head. "Socializing." Enthusiastic he was not.

"No, Bay City, man."

"Wade didn't tell you? I moved here. Big city, lots of businesses…"

Ron noticed his Hispanic spiky-haired techno fiend friend had a strange tone in his voice, one he detected with Kim often.

"Uh huh, right. What's your _real_ reason?"

Nev just rolled his eyes, disappointed, "Okay, you've got me. This place is like freaking Corusant. That's the main reason at least, but what do you expect? I watch too many movies for my own good and I'm like king of the good-looking geeks. Anyway, when it comes to leeching off of everyone's electricity to power my lab, whew, perfect, man. Perfect. So what's up with you? I figured if I pretended to be an airhead about Kim you'd be a bit defensive, but-"

Ron just quietly whispered, "We… got into a fight."

Nev nodded, not looking surprised.

Ron noticed the look in his eyes, "_Physical_ fight."

"I know."

"Huh?"

Nev started to walk off, motioning for Ron to follow him, "Wade told me about it last night. Funny, since he hasn't really called me ever since the sociopath episode."

"Sociopath episode?"

"Your fight with Val. Surely you remember him, right?"

Ron couldn't keep his eyes straight, "Yeah. Couldn't if I tried."

"I kinda give specific situations names like that. Anyway, I figured that if Wade was going to call me out of nowhere, it must've been pretty important. What surprised me was that he actually looked confused and was in quite a dilemma. He wanted to help you both out, but he was afraid he was going to make things worse. I'm not sure why he came to me about it, I guess he thinks I have some good advice on relationships or something, but I've already told you that I really, really don't. So I told him not to get involved."

"So that's why he hasn't been responding to our calls," Ron realized.

"Quite."

"I understand," Ron confirmed for him. "Don't get in the affairs of someone's relationship if it can mess up your friendship, too. Best not to drag someone else into this to take sides."

Nev was surprised to hear such words from Ron, "That sounds about right."

"Did Wade tell you anything else?"

"Me? Not really."

"How did you know I was coming here? I didn't even tell _Wade_ I was coming here."

Nev laughed, "I didn't. I come here everyday because these guys serve the best ice smoothies you can imagine. I just noticed a familiar friendly face, that's all. This place is a lot more like a mall than an airport."

"I can see that," Ron agreed, looking around. The two already passed by a few clothes and beauty stores, even a movie theater.

"So what brings you to this not-so-humble city?"

Ron pulled out the envelope and handed it to Nev, "This."

By now Ron and Nev were near the luggage pickup area. Ron found his suitcase as Nev carefully inspected the envelope's contents.

"Sounds like these guys knew exactly who to talk to," Nev observed, and then handed the envelope and letter back to Ron.

"Hey Nev, can you do me a favor?"

Nev looked toward the conveyor belt that was carrying the suitcases, "As long as it doesn't involve me laying down on that conveyor belt and seeing where it goes, sure."

"Don't tell Wade about me being here. I kinda need a break from everything."

"I perfectly understand. I'll be in the shadows myself. Here."

Nev handed Ron a small device, almost looking like Kim's Kimmunicator but with a shiny purple and green appearance.

"All right, video game!"

Nev slapped his forehead, "Exactly, but for the record, let's try again. No, it's a communicator. If you need anything, you can contact me. Feel lonely or if something big comes up, you've got a friend in the city."

"Thanks, man."

"You should drop by my place later. Got a few new toys you could probably use on your missions if, well, you know…" Nev realized he probably dropped a rock on Ron's foot on that one, almost about to finish with 'if you and Kim fix up your situation.' Best not to bring it up now.

"Sure," Ron quickly replied, "Right now I just need to get away from it all, but I'll keep my eyes open." Ron wouldn't have been surprised that with his luck that Drakken and Shego would crash through the ceiling. They were still in jail, but Ron knew they wouldn't be there for long.

Nev nodded, "I understand perfectly." He also turned his head in multiple directions, narrowing his eyes, "I suggest we get out of here. There seems to be a few girls eyeing both of us, and they don't take the excuse of 'having a girlfriend' well."

As Nev increased his walking speed, Ron realized what this meant, but something else came to mind, "Wait a minute, since when did you have a girlfriend?"

"Me? Never. I just use that as an excuse after trying to say I wasn't interested. And the girls around here that are only like fourteen or fifteen, forget it, they're lethal. They think it's okay to hit on guys five years older than they are, and they're psycho to boot."

Ron turned around and made eye contact with the girls Nev was talking about, and indeed they were underage and appeared to be anything but mature.

"Just keep walking, Ron. Just keep walking."

Shortly afterward, the two had come out of the entrance, and Ron almost dropped to his knees at the sight before him.

"Ron, welcome to Bay City."

The city before them was huge, with several shiny and creatively designed buildings everywhere. Several subway trains made their way through the city on the street and between several of the buildings. All kinds of advertisements flashed on several buildings, there appeared to be gatherings on the balconies of buildings, and the sun shone through the windows, engulfing the city in an orange glow.

Nev just laughed as saliva was starting to make its way down Ron's mouth, "You haven't seen anything yet. Just wait until it's nighttime."

"Hey Nev, what time is it?"

"It's close to seven."

"Might as well head to the hotel. I can't believe I'm still tired."

"Need a lift?"

Nev quickly pulled out a small device, pressing a button before putting it back in his pocket. Two beeps could be heard nearby, as Nev slowly walked towards a motorcycle in the small parking area.

Something about this motorcycle looked too familiar to Ron, "No, it can't be."

"It is."

It was a red motorcycle with white linings, and an irritating flashback came to mind. He was driving his scooter back home, and someone was driving it at full speed with Kim holding onto him tightly. It was a miserable memory, remembering that Ron had to watch Kim fall for the new guy as he started to realize his feelings for her.

Erik.

_"That's _Erik's motorcycle?"

"Stolen goods. Not really, though. It was auctioned off in Lowerton after you guys took out RGB."

"RGB? Oh…"

It quickly came to Ron's head. Red, Green and Blue. Erik, Shego and Drakken. He wondered how he never realized it at all.

Nev just smirked at the sight of the bike, "Yup. And I paid only twenty dollars for it. It belongs to a villain and nobody wants it except for the geek in the back."

Ron was in envy, "Gee."

"Want to know something even better?"

"Hmm?"

"She's all yours."

"Well, that's nice and all, but…what?"Ron couldn't believe what he just heard.

"I don't drive this thing around anymore, so I figured you might want it."

Ron liked the idea, and the bike was in mint condition."I'm sorry, dude. I can't accept it. Riding it would be like a constant reminder of who drove it originally and what I had to go through at the time."

Nev almost kicked himself in the head as he pretty much imagined the situation. Sure, it's nice to have a former enemy's motorcycle, but Erik's bike would remind Ron of everything he had to endure when Kim fell for the syntho-drone. Not something you'd want to remember often.

"Totally understand. Sorry about reminding you of the past."

"It's cool," Ron assured him, "Then again, it's because of him that me and KP got together that night."

Nev burst out laughing, shaking his head the whole time, "Iiiiiiincorrect! You got together that night because you rattled the cage of Drakken's plan. You were the one that found out about the Diablos and went to warn Kim about it. If you didn't do that, everything would've gone to hell. Erik was just a tool to seduce Kim."

"I guess you're right."

"It's in the past, buddy. Kim just needed to realize that love wasn't about the food chain and you needed to realize your true feelings for her instead of hiding it with the 'best friends-only' thing. Even Wade knew you two were going to hit it off before the year was over."

"He did?"

"Absolutely. Sometimes you need painful circumstances to occur before two people realize their feelings for each other. Now how about we enjoy a ride to the hotel, anyway?"

* * *

The two had been in the parking lot at the hotel, poor Ron having to spit out a few bugs from his teeth. When he was done, Nev pointed north and revealed the Bueno Nacho HQ. Yuri was correct; you could see it perfectly from the hotel, and just the giant glowing Taco logo almost made Ron feel like he was enlightened. 

Nev revved up the bike a bit more, "I think you can manage things from here. Remember, if you need me, just whistle. I'll be around."

"Um, Nev? Before you leave, I just gotta know…"

Nev fogged up his helmet; already knowing the question Ron was about to ask.

"Did I really mess up everything?"

Nev just shook his head, removing his helmet, "Ron, listen. When you get into a fight with someone and can't win, you'd be wise to look at all sides of the situation. You want to start off with yourself. Look at what you did right, and look at what you did wrong. Once you figure that out, look for the same things in Kim. In the end, you may realize that you're at fault, you may still think Kim is, you may realize that neither of you were at fault, or perhaps the both of you were at equal fault. I won't tell you which side I'm on, but when you analyze things long after the event, the perspective is much more clear. If you feel that you're at fault, you'll go to her, and if she's at fault, she'll come to you… Gee, I can't remember a time where I said the word 'fault' so many times..."

It took a few seconds for Ron to take it in, but he got it, "Thanks. I'll think about it tonight."

"Listen, man. This is probably the first fight you had in your relationship with her. Nobody is perfect, Ron, and it's not going to end because of some mistake on a mission. I bet you anything if she saw you walking around with someone else or vice versa, someone would be going to the hospital, and not just the cheater. Everybody makes mistakes, even the girl who says she can do anything or even her loyal partner. It's not going to end just now, not like this."

Ron thought about it for a second, "I hope you're right."

"It'll be okay, man. Keep it real for now."

Nev gave Ron a thumbs-up as he drove away, almost taking the sunset with him as the city was starting to grow dark. It felt awkward to Ron that the sun set so early. It only felt like a few hours ago that he left Middleton. Regardless, he decided to head inside.

A cute brunette girl greeted him at the front desk. Ron was about to open his mouth, but the girl interrupted him.

"Ron Stoppable, Room 418, Cable Television, Room Service, Free Old School Video Games. Here's your key."

She was holding nothing in her hand. Ron did little more than make a gesture to tell her that her hand was empty.

She quickly turned around as she noticed this, looking for the right key to Ron's room, as they were stacked near each other. When she found it, she tossed it behind her back. Ron caught it flawlessly, but having no idea what was going on. The girl appeared to be looking for something more, though.

"You're much cuter in person, you know that?"

"Uh, thanks?"

"I hope Kim didn't hear me say that."

"She's not with me."

The girl quickly rose up and looked around, surprised, "I thought she was always following you or something."

Ron almost laughed at the thought; "No…!" then realized again he got the attention and not Kim, "Solo thing."

The girl nodded, "I see. Well, the elevators are located to the left, we have a gym and swimming pool to the right, and just dial 461 on the phone if you need us. Enjoy your stay."

"Thanks."

Ron located the elevators to his right (the girl was unintentionally referring to _her_ left) and quickly made his way towards it. She was pretty and had a really innocent look to her,

'_But man, she's more of a klutz than I am,'_ Ron thought to himself.

* * *

Ron arrived in his room shortly. 

The room itself was rather small, probably because of the extras it had. It had two beds, a big-screen TV with cable and an old controller hanging off of it, a fridge, Ethernet, the usual shower and bathroom, and a small sofa with a table near it.

At this point, Ron was too tired to watch TV, despite that he had been dead asleep earlier that day, and just laid on the bed. The window was huge, and now Ron could see what Nev was talking about.

The city at night was just plain unbelievable. Spotlights lit the sky, the lights on the bottom of the streets were glowing all kinds of neon colors, which lit buildings all around the city, the traffic animated all of the lights, and helicopters were bringing life to the skies. It was like something pulled out of an anime.

Still, he couldn't help but feel alone.

He missed Kim. A lot.

But he wasn't going to mope about it on the bed the whole time. He missed her, but he wasn't going to allow it to interfere with the reason he came. He was going to Bueno Nacho HQ in a little more than 24 hours and help the new board try to revive its former name. He was going to prove that he wasn't there to screw everything up.

He only hoped he could. Often, the big names would get all bigheaded about their position and not listen to the person who knew exactly what he or she was talking about. The letter was convincing, but he hoped it wasn't just some kind of persuasive method of making him come.

And even if it did take a turn for the worse, Ferno covered his entire trip. He could stay for weeks and leech off of his money. Ron could even do that right now, but he chose not to.

He was anything but excited. His thoughts were still dragging away at his girlfriend.

He then remembered something; He had his cell phone on him. It was off, but maybe Kim left a message. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket to see if-

It wasn't off. It was on low battery, but he wondered if she ever called.

No received messages.

Then he checked his voicemail.

"You have no new calls."

Nothing. Maybe Kim was still angry. She probably thought that he still screwed everything up. What if her dad found out about her injuries? It would be a black hole for him, unless they couldn't find him. If Wade didn't know Ron was in Bay City, would Kim?

Maybe it was best to go into hiding. He wouldn't trust Nev with his life, but he hoped he would stay silent.

* * *

Kim was still at home, trying for the fifth time to contact Wade on her bed. She was bored out of her mind. 

"Why won't he answer?"

Kim could hear her mom holler from nearby, "Kimmie, you're not going out tonight?"

"Huh?"

Her mom's head popped out from the doorway, "It's Friday, your official Ron Night."

"I…um…a…"

Kim had tried to keep the whole situation between her and Ron a secret, but there wasn't an excuse in the world that would protect her now. Actually, if Kim got a few seconds in, she could think of something, but time wasn't on her side, and if her mom didn't get an answer immediately, it meant trouble.

Realizing that her daughter was stuttering, Dr. Possible sat on Kim's bed next to her, "Something you want to talk about?"

Kim sighed, "We got into a fight."

Her mom sighed with a bit of grief, but knew even her daughter and the boy she hoped would become her son-in-law would have their problems. She also knew that Kim probably hadn't vented to anybody, as Monique was somewhere in Europe and didn't keep in contact with anybody in high school other than her and Ron.

"C'mon. Talk to me," Kim's mom openly offered.

"Okay, you know how last night I came in with a bloody nose and the back of my head was bleeding? That was him."

Kim's mom suddenly became shocked, almost unable to breath when hearing this. All of her fears suddenly seemed real, and the thought of her daughter in an abusive relationship sent some kind of shockwave to her mind. She sat still and silent for a few minutes before getting up and about to leave the room with sweat all over her face.

"I'm… calling the police..." She was having a panic attack.

Kim immediately realized the impression that her mom got and stopped her, grabbing her hand before she could reach the door, "Mom, wait, it's not like that! Not at all! It happened on the mission, trust me! Let me finish!"

Her mom was a bit nervous and suspicious, but decided to take Kim's word for it. Kim quickly pulled her mom back onto her bed.

Kim continued, "It's just that, well, okay, first off, we were after some guy in Thailand and Ron and I took separate ways. I took the inside of the temple and Ron took the outside, but I went in disguise and didn't tell him an-"

Her mom cut her off, "Because?"

Kim didn't answer immediately, "I forgot?"

Her mom nodded, her eyes telling Kim to continue.

"So I got into the bad guy's lair, disguised as one of his bodyguards, and Ron decided to attack every guard, including me."

"And that's how you got your injuries," her mom guessed.

Kim nodded, "Yeah. I just realized that I didn't tell him I was in disguise when he slammed my head into a stone wall, not that he was more lenient on the other guards."

Not showing it, Kim's mom felt like she was carrying an anvil on her back and just let it go. She trusted Ron with her life, but the thought of him making her daughter bleed was pretty unbelievable. _'Thank goodness,' _she thought. Seeing Kim injured was one thing since it happened every now and then, but the thought of Ron hitting Kim hard enough to bleed scared the daylights out of her.

"So… what happened then?"

Kim began to appear frustrated at herself, "I guess I attacked him back. To be honest, I don't know what I was thinking, but I was just so angry that he hit me that I hit him back."

"How bad?" Her mom feared the answer.

"Slapped him hard enough to send him through a large wooden crate."

Her mom almost gasped at the thought of this, "Kim!"

"Well, he did crush my head between his elbows and a stone wall."

"It definitely doesn't sound like something he'd do on purpose!"

"Mom, how can you mess up something like that, I mean-"

"Kim, listen. If you dropped a bunch of henchmen and then one of them suddenly turned out to be Ron-"

"He'd probably think it was an accident," Kim responded.

Her mom then glared at her, and Kim finally came to realize everything. It _was_ an accident. If she was in the same situation Ron was in, he wouldn't have instantly attacked, but she did.

"Oh…"

Now before her was a phone receiver, held by her mom, "Care to give him a ring?"

Kim slowly pushed it away, "I don't know, mom. We kind of said harsh things to each other and, well, maybe he's still mad."

"It's not going to get any better if you don't apologize to him."

"I don't know."

Kim buried her head in her arms, for once scared to handle the situation between her and Ron. But then he started hearing beeps. Seven of them.

"Hi, Linda, how are you? I wanted to know if Ron was in."

Kim's eyes blasted wide open. She immediately got up on her knees and tried to grab the phone from her mom, who kept one hand on Kim's head, the other holding the phone. She wouldn't let Kim reach it despite her desperate efforts.

"Oh really? Wow... No, he didn't... I'll tell Kim… Why? The two got into a fight… So was Kim… It was on their mission… Yes, I'm sure. I almost had the same thoughts… Okay then, thanks."

Finally, her mom put down the receiver, still pushing against Kim who was still wildly moving her arms.

"MOM!"

"Oh, Kimmie, if you're not going to handle the situation now then you never will!"

Kim was almost turning red, "But mom, this is between Ron an-"

"Ron's not in Middleton."

"I know that, mom a-…" Kim suddenly stopped, "What did you say?"

"Ron's mom told me that he's not in Middleton. He went to the airport and took off on a plane."

Kim growled and buried her head in her bed again, "It's all my fault."

Her mom patted her back in an attempt to comfort her more. "She said it was about something that arrived in the mail for him this morning. She couldn't remember who it was from, though."

Kim groaned again. She had no idea where he was.

Seeing her daughter's grief, Dr. Possible got an idea, "Kim, when Ron comes, you can surprise him at his house and apologize."

Upon hearing this, Kim instantly rose her head with a look of confidence on her face, "No, I have a better idea."

She instantly pulled out her Kimmunicator, and her mom left her daughter in privacy.

Call Wade and see if he has Ron chipped.

"Wade?"

No answer. She forgot; he wasn't answering any of her calls.

Kim groaned loudly again before falling flat on her bed. Then she realized exactly why Wade wasn't responding. He wasn't going to get involved in any of her fights with Ron. She didn't blame him, but how would she tell him she needed help if he wasn't going to answer her calls?

It was getting late.

She got an idea. She turned on her computer, the one with an active internet connection, waited a few minutes for it to load, waited a few more minutes for everything to come on the desktop, and more until her mouse finally responded. Then she got on the Internet. It had been a long time since she last visited her own site, since Wade kept it going and it evolved from her own site to Wade's. He used it much more than she did.

She stopped updating her online diary about a year ago mid-junior year, shortly after her date from hell with Josh Mankey. She decided to read some old entries, but that one took her back. She mentioned that Ron saved the day, acknowledging that without him she'd be a goner, but at the time it didn't really kick in.

Reading her old thoughts on the situation, she almost pounded her head on the keyboard… repeatedly. She had her head so far up on Mankey that she didn't concern herself of Ron's actions. At the time, she just thought he saved her on a date. In fact, he saved her life. They saved each other's lives often, so it wasn't that big of a deal at the time.

But would any of her boyfriends save her life if she were in any danger? Unless their name was Ron Stoppable, no. Being reminded of her blind crush on Mankey made her head hurt. She couldn't believe she was such an airhead to be crushing on someone so much that they didn't care about their own life being at stake.

One thing she didn't write down, though, was the scolding she got when she closed the door.

* * *

"Kimberly Anne Possible! We need to talk!" 

The sound of her dad's voice after a date with her crush scared her to the point that her skeleton almost leapt out of her skin. She quickly turned around, her parents both standing with their arms crossed, her brothers making faces, and noticeably, Ron sitting on the stairs.

"I… uh… hi!" she nervously chuckled.

She was so screwed.

"Kimmie, did you not understand the condition you were in a few hours ago?" her mom asked.

"We were told that you were to stay in your room until Ron came back, and I see that you went on a date with some boy?" her dad fumed.

Kim just sighed, "You know, you're right, I'm sorry."

"We're not the ones you should be apologizing to," her mom retorted. "Kim, you could have been killed!"

"It's not any different than any of my missions, mom," she quickly came back with.

"That's not what I'm talking about, Kimberly Anne. Ron goes out into the wild for you, pretty much sacrificing himself, and you repay him by going on some date with Josh? He came here looking for you with the plant and everything, and you're off fooling around on a date! Is Josh really that much more important than your best friend trying to save your life?"

Kim eyes slowly made their way to see Ron, but her father blocked her view, "You look at us when we talk to you."

"They're right, you know," Tim spoke, "Your date with Josh could've just waited. He would've understood that something's wrong with you and couldn't go out."

"But a date with the hot art guy is so much more important than your best friend racing against the clock to save you," Jim finished sarcastically. "Maybe when Ron's in life-death situation we'll send him on a date."

Kim couldn't believe the nerve of her brothers, seeing that minutes ago they were also trying to ruin her date.

"You disappoint me, Kimberly Anne," her father spoke, "I thought we raised you better than that."

Kim just stood in the doorway guiltily, not having anything to defend herself with. "I'm so sorry."

Her father turned around and went back into the kitchen, the tweebs back into the living room. Only her mom stood before Kim.

"Before this night is over," her mom whispered, "I want you to apologize to Ron and explain yourself."

After that, she walked into the kitchen with her husband, and then Kim's eyes turned to Ron, who was still sitting on the ladder to her room. Kim slowly went up the stairs, but Ron was still holding the plant in his hand, staring at it. Even though that's where his attention was at, he heard everything.

"Hey…" she quietly spoke.

Before him stood Kim in her dress with a guilty expression written all over her face.

"Hey yourself."

"Ron, I'm sorry, I jus-"

He cut her off, "It's okay. I understand. Josh was finally going to ask you on a date and it was too much to refuse."

"No, Ron, it was stupid of me to leave my room."

He was expressionless, "It's like a plot twist, KP, it happens every time."

"That's no excuse. I really am sorry, Ron. I should've listened to you. Really, I should've listened."

There was a bit of disgust in Kim's voice that Ron recognized rarely. "The date went bad?"

"I don't want to talk about it, but sort of. Other than Drakken, Shego, Embarrassment Ninjas and the tweebs, he really wanted to rush things."

Not what she said when she closed the door.

"I saw that."

Kim almost forgot that Ron was there at the park. Josh didn't see him, but she did.

He sighed, "I'm glad you didn't let him."

"Huh?"

Ron got up, walking past Kim then stopping.

"There's actually a lot of guys in the school who like you, KP, but… let's just say they don't have pure intentions."

"I'm aware of that. You don't think…?"

"That Mankey's one of them? It's probable, and I'm not saying that because of his last name, but out there, I dunno…" he trailed off, scoffing at himself. "Then again, what do I know about dating? Acting like that might be natural or something."

"No, you're right. Listen, Ron…"

Ron just turned around and tossed the plant to Kim, who caught it off guard.

"Wade says to keep that in close range. Sometimes the wormhole has a tendency to come back, so if you've got this nearby, you know what to do."

Kim just put the plant down on one of the steps, then started to slowly approach Ron. She had an odd look in her eyes, and some emotion was starting to come out from Ron, who was emotionless the entire time. No anger, no sadness, no happiness obviously, but something about Kim walking up to him with that dress was bringing back an old emotion.

Its name was fear.

But instead, Kim wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"I'm really sorry for not listening. Everyone was right; you went to the ends of the earth to save me and I should've just stayed in my room and waited for you. It's the least I could've done to show you how much I appreciate it. Thanks."

"KP, it's cool," he calmly replied.

"So, still best friends?"

Ron scoffed, "Kim, I just came back from the Amazon to save you. What do you think? Doy."

Kim just smiled, "You're the best, Ron."

With that, Kim turned around and picked up the plant and started to climb her ladder, but turned around, "Hey Ron, care for lunch at Bueno Nacho tomorrow?"

Ron just nodded, "Sure!"

"Good night, Ron!"

"Good night, KP!"

With that, Ron made his way to the stairs to the main door, walking casually and calmly as he always did. He would've waved to the Possible clan but none of them were downstairs anymore. After all, it was late in the evening, but it didn't feel like the talk with Kim was that long.

After leaving, he quickly had a disgusted look on his face. Rufus popped out of his pocket and onto his shoulder as he always did when Ron walked home, but also noticed. He also took note of an unfamiliar scent coming from Ron's shoulder.

"You smell that cologne, Rufus? It's the same kind that Mankey wears to school."

"You mean…?"

"Yup. I smelled it only when she hugged me. He went straight for the kiss."

Rufus covered his face, but noticed his owner looked a bit more calm than a second ago.

"She'll realize it when she wakes up tomorrow."

Ron was unusually confident in his thoughts. He knew Mankey wasn't the one for Kim, and he knew Kim would be smart enough to realize it in the morning… he hoped.

Kim was one to become a completely different person when she crushed on somebody. Ron knew this well. In fact, she became the exact opposite of what she was when it came to boys. She would be strong and independent on her missions. When it came to crushes, she was incredibly weak and often concerned with how others think.

But also, Kim could drop her crushes almost instantly.

Meanwhile, in Kim's room, she was in her pajamas and typing on the computer – the one she took from the tweebs' room earlier so they wouldn't immediately be able to read her online diary. She had planned ahead.

_"Wow, I can't believe Josh actually kissed me."_

* * *

Oh, if there was a way for Kim to delete that entry. Well, at least she didn't have some kind of comment box, or else she'd probably be willing to read the thoughts of everybody who stumbled onto the site. Knowing how well the people at Middleton roared when she got together with Ron, she probably would have seen comments like "Die Josh, die! Ron all the way!" and probably a thousand more saying the same thing, but it was a private journal after all, not some kind of public blog. 

But Josh was on the other side of the country now, so that didn't matter. She was with Ron, and for the most part it was a happy relationship, just until lately, and did she miss him. A lot.

Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to update the online diary right now. Why would she want to read back on an entry that said something among the lines of, "Ron and I got into a fight, he slammed my head through a wall, I threw him into a crate, we're mad at each other but I messed it up"?

So away with the online diary and on with the real reason she came on. If she delivered a hit on the site, Wade would have to read it. So in the text area, she started typing.

"Wade. Ron's not in Middleton. Need help locating him. Thanks, Kim."

He'd probably respond either overnight or early in the morning, but she'd do it for Ron.

However, a dialog box came up on the screen just as she clicked on "Send." Without reading the message, she knew it wasn't good.

_ERROR: A request for help or babysitting cannot be sent from this computer. Sorry Kim, but I can't have Ron sending me hits from your computer saying "I'm on KP's computer!" again. Sorry. – Wade_

_

* * *

_

This was a really really old message that Wade put up when he first joined the team, just before the two attended high school. Ron was obsessed with the Internet at the time, playing games and going to every website he could think of. And it was all on Kim's computer since it was more recent and had a much better Internet connection speed. Sometimes he would just send Wade a message from Kim's computer just to tell him all the cool things he found out on the Internet that day.

Two days later, a small blue handheld device came in the mail. On the back of it was a piece of paper.

_"This is the Kimmunicator. Use this to contact me from now on."_

* * *

Reading the message word for word on her screen, Kim let out a frustrated growl and slammed her head on the keyboard. Anything's possible for a Possible, which includes becoming amazingly frustrated at your computer. 

"Kim, go to bed!" her entire family practically hollered at her.

Kim looked at her alarm clock. It was two in the morning. Reminiscing sure sucks the life out of time.


	4. 03: Enthrallment

**Chapter 3: Enthrallment**

**

* * *

**

Light can't be completely blocked out just by closing your eyes. Ron found this out the hard way as the sunrise lights beamed straight into his room and straight into his eyes. After fighting it for a half hour, he inadvertently fell off the bed.

"Ow."

Cracking his neck a couple of times as he got up, Ron stretched in a manner considered unorthodox. First, he leaned all the way backward until his hands and feet were all touching the floor. He then managed to raise his legs and stand completely on his hands, doing what appeared like push-ups using his entire body as the weight. Just when he was starting to lose his balance, he front-flipped onto his feet and bent over so his hands could touch them. He then stood up and twisted his body back and forth, popping various areas of his spine, then stretched out his legs and arms, popping just about every bone in each limb.

"Ooookay, ready to go."

Rufus was just staring at him, having no idea what that was all about. Ron noticed this.

"It's something Sensei taught me at Yamanuchi to get me up in the morning. It's kinda cool, you feel dead tired and then after all that's done, you feel great. Not for the kids at home to try."

Rufus just shrugged, "Whatever," then excitedly pulled out the city map, opening it up to reveal all of the Bay City's highlights. A lot.

"Rufus, we can't do all that stuff today. We've got a meeting in…"

Ron looked at the clock: 7:58 AM.

"Okay, I'm game."

"Woohoo!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Kim was doing a lot of extensive research on where Ron could have possibly gone. She went to his house, his room, the tree house, back to her place, tried calling Wade again, constantly going back and forth before heading out into the city and visiting the usual locations: Middleton High, Bueno Nacho, the Mall, and the Arcade. It also didn't help that she still had no mode of transportation. 

Nothing.

* * *

Ron started off his day by riding the train that ran high throughout the entire city. Even though it was the nighttime when the city stood out, the city was still beautiful in the morning. The sun's beams reflected through every single window of the city, engulfing it in a unique neon glow. The train itself was quiet and no one said anything. 

Peace, quiet and tranquility.

* * *

After ten long hours of grueling investigation, Kim returned home. In her room, she was walking back and forth trying to think. Not easy with a headache and a giant bandage on the back of your head. This had been going on for well over an hour, and it quickly worried her entire family, including her twin brothers. When Kim was wandering away from the door, all four of them would peek their heads in and pulled back just as Kim turned around. They knew something had to be done about this, but the question was, who would go into the battlefield? Exaggerated, but when Kim was not in a good mood, she was a force to be reckoned with, as a teenager, a girlfriend, even a daughter and a sister. 

Outside her room, it turned into a game of _"Rock, Paper, Scissors"_ on who would have to talk to her.

Three scissors and one paper.

Dr. James Possible was up. Sweating, he slowly crept in the room just as Kim turned around and walked away from the door.

"Uh, hello Kimmie-cub. I was…uh…"

"Dangit, I lost it," Kim referring to her concentration.

Her father froze when realizing this, almost taking a step backward. "Kim, you've been doing this all day."

Kim didn't respond for a few seconds, trying to gather the last thought in her head before losing her concentration. Realizing that bright sunlight wasn't coming through her window, she needed to know something. "What time is it?"

"Almost four, and you haven't eaten breakfast _or_ lunch."

Without saying a word, Kim quickly walked past her dad out of the room, past her mom and brothers, and went straight for the kitchen. Her family couldn't help but spy on her the entire time.

Kim made her way to the microwave, which had both her breakfast and lunch in it, covered by aluminum foil on a plate. Completely disregarding if the food was still edible or how hot or cold it was, Kim pulled it out and just dumped all of it in her mouth like a dump truck, chewed on it, and swallowed the entire thing, minus the foil.

"Hon," her dad whispered to his wife, "Remind me what you cooked this morning."

"Eggs and bacon for breakfast and two sandwiches for lunch," she whispered.

Kim let out a huge burp after that, obviously ignoring her manners, then stormed off back to her room and past her family again.

"She's becoming more like Ronald," her dad concluded at her food manners.

"We'd better do something." Mrs. Dr. Possible was no less concerned than before.

"We could tranquilize her," Jim pitched in.

"Jim!"

"Well," Tim intervened, "Studies show that it _does_ work well on TRL viewers."

"Hmm, TRL viewers, huh?" Mr. Dr. Possible thought. He was getting some ideas, but not before the back of his head was lightly smacked by his wife.

"We are not going to tranquilize our daughter!"

"No, of course not! I just thought it might be useful to some of the guys at work. You don't want to hear the stories of them going out to the bar and coming back to work the next morning with…" He paused when he realized two of his kids were nearby, "Well, you just can't work with them."

"Oh. Sorry dear."

"If our calculations are correct," Tim continued, "If we shoot a tranq. dart into her neck she should be out like a log. This stuff can take down an elephant."

"NO!" his parents yelled.

Mrs. Possible sighed, "I might as well go talk to her again."

She finally separated herself from her family and proceeded upstairs. Making sure she was gone, Mr. Dr. Possible and the boys decided to share some dialogue.

"You've got that stuff with you?" he whispered his two sons.

"In our room," Jim answered.

Tim had an evil look in his eyes, "But it'll cost you."

Dr. Possible rolled his eyes. "Name your terms."

The two brothers then exchanged looks with each other.

"Hickabicka boo?"

"Hooshah."

* * *

Upstairs in her room, Kim was laying down on her bed, moving around trying to get into a comfortable position. 

"Mom, do you think that I'm freaking out a little bit by this?"

Her mom wasn't even in the room, staying near Kim's door and waiting to make her move. Hearing this, she realized it was time to come in.

"Freaking out? Yes. A little bit? If by 'a little bit' you mean 'dangerously', then I'm inclined to agree."

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Kim sat up on her bed. "I miss him, mom."

Her mom came and sat beside her, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I know you do, Kim. So Wade's not answering your calls and you have no idea where he's at."

"Pretty much."

"Kimmie, maybe you need a break from everything. Sometimes in a relationship we need to get away from everything to relax ourselves."

Kim didn't agree, "No mom, I need to see him and apologize to him. What if he never comes back? What if-"

Her mom interrupted with a fierce tone, "Kim, that's ridiculous and you know it. You two had your first fight, perhaps of many, but I honestly don't think Ron's just going to go away and never see you again just because of a mistake you both made on a mission. I've seen you grow up with him and you've both been in hard times. Believe me, something like this _isn't_ going to end everything you two have shared together. He will come back, but when? That's something I'm afraid I don't know."

"You're sure?" Kim almost sounded relieved, but a hint of fear was still inside. Her mom never saw it often, but she knew it was in there.

"Of course, Kimmie. You may not have seen it, but he loves you a lot, and not just recently. It's been there throughout the years."

"I know, actually. Sometimes I go back into my diary and see it, and I can't believe how blind I was back then."

"That'll happen when you're young. Sometimes you don't see it, and sometimes you refuse it. And I know you've been afraid of it."

"I… have?" Kim asked with a confused gaze in her eyes.

"The Moodulator Incident?"

* * *

"I'm not sure, KP. I mean, I'm still having a hard time believing what just happened." 

Despite holding Kim's hand, Ron felt really awkward about everything that had gone on that night. His best friend gave him his first kiss on the lips, he realized she was more than 'cute', and he went on a date… one that involved her crying, laughing, and almost ripping him to shreds.

For Kim, it was also weird. Her date with Mankey was weird enough with the embarrassment ninjas and Shego, but she was walking home and holding hands with someone in a pickle suit.

"I wish I could say I have a grip on the whole situation, but I'm totally with you on that."

Neither of them did realize they were holding hands at all. Their minds were completely elsewhere.

"Look, Kim, I…"

Still walking, Kim slowly turned her eyes to Ron.

"Lost it. Sorry."

She was silent for a second before replying, "It's okay, Ron." It was clear she wanted to know what he was going to say, and he knew it.

"I'm just still trying to get a grip on everything. You know, take it in and all."

"I understand. Must be pretty scary having your best friend almost crush hard on you one second, cry another, and then try to kill you the next."

Just a few seconds ago Kim thought that perhaps she was starting to crush on Ron, remembering what she had said that night to him, that there were fireworks between them. But when she said it, she was more focused on the fact that she was going on a date with Ron, completely forgetting that Ron had actually 'broken up' with her. She remembered it only minutes ago, and now she didn't know what to think. Did she like him like that? Was he boyfriend material? Why did he dump her? Was it because he wanted to stay best friends, because he wanted to save their friendship, or perhaps he didn't like her like that at all? She was afraid to ask.

Ron was confused. While he had his thoughts on dating Kim in the past, he never thought deeply or seriously on it, not enough to pursue it. He had been scared of her the entire day, not as much on the dating thing, but rather her mood swings. It would be crazy enough to see Kim switch moods that he was familiar with, but these weren't sides of Kim he saw at all. It was too much for him.

Both Kim and Ron knew that despite being best friends for ages, that everyone has a tendency to have a secret side to them. For Ron, this meant a number of things. What if the moodulator revealed feelings that Kim may have hidden from everyone? Perhaps when no one was around, maybe she did cry. Maybe she did have a ferocious side where her anger was bound to kill any living being nearby. Maybe she had her moments of actually laughing, something he never saw her do in high school often, if at all.

And that lust side? Clearly too much for him. Any other guy would've loved it if the world famous Kim Possible was lusting over them to the point of chasing them around the lockers, but Ron was clearly scared.

On the other hand, what if Kim never felt these things before and had a side effect or something afterward? What if from now on she started showing more emotions like crying, lust, and anger? It was something Ron didn't want to think about.

If one thing was clear, looking at Kim wasn't going to be the same as ever, literally. He always thought that Kim had a cute face with her shiny and open eyes, but he never really concerned himself with her figure at all. Because of what she was wearing, it was impossible not to look.

He felt scared. While Kim was looking up to the stars and trying to gather her own thoughts on the matter, Ron couldn't help but take a peak at her curves and various areas of her body. He felt more attracted to Kim, and never realized how… perfect her figure was. He tried to fight it, but he couldn't help but take quick glances at Kim's chest, her rear, her legs, and her waist.

He couldn't believe it, he was actually checking out his best friend with lustful eyes on her body. He instantly felt guilty and miserable for doing such a thing.

'_What am I doing!'_ he thought.

He also couldn't believe her parents actually let her buy or wear something like that. They were probably too psyched that he and Kim were finally going on a date to notice.

Kim broke the silence. "Did you ever gather that thought back?"

He quickly took his eyes off her legs before she turned to him. "No… not really."

"Ron, it's okay to be scared. I…"

Ten seconds of silence passed.

"Never mind. Lost it."

Kim was also wondering the effects of the Moodulator. Was it designed to create emotions? Enhance them? Or build those that aren't often shown? Kim knew exactly what was going on the entire time, much like her mind control dilemma with Drakken and her brothers, but she unleashed feelings and emotions that she would have not preferred for anyone to see. Not even Ron, and now he was afraid of her, exactly what she feared and why she kept these sides hidden.

Kim wasn't one to keep secrets from Ron, but there were parts of her that she would have preferred to keep hidden. First of all, she never laughed, but this wasn't an emotion she was afraid of or ashamed of. Really, why didn't she laugh? Ron could always cheer her up, or accidentally ruin Bonnie's day after she let the pyramid in cheerleading practice fall again, or made a mission better. She smiled, but didn't laugh.

But the other emotions, she didn't like at all and tried to hide them. The first one was crying. There would be a cold day in hell before someone would see Kim Possible cry. To her, it would show weakness and fear. She could imagine; boys would think she's weak, Bonnie would see this as a weak spot as well as her villains. She had to stay strong, but at times she had her moments of breaking down. She knew it was dangerous to bottle up emotions, but that's what her room was for.

At the end of this night, Kim knew she would be crying in her room.

Then there was lust. Even girls had their perverse sides, but Kim didn't have much of a lustful side. Sure, she crushed on boys because they were talented and extremely cute, but it was all about their face. The eyes, their dimples, maybe their hair, and their smiles. She didn't care for big muscular guys. But she was aware that sometimes she let herself go when she crushed on someone, Nelson and Mankey coming to mind, and seeing as how she was doing it with Ron earlier, no wonder he was afraid of her. She wondered how afraid every guy in the school had been of her. In fact, when it came to dating, she was always afraid of the image she had and what people thought of it. She knew she had to be tough in the face of evil, since she was Kim Possible, but she didn't want to scare off her chances at love, either. It was hard being a single girl in Middleton. She didn't want to be surrounded by boys, but she didn't like loneliness either. It wouldn't hurt to have one person, but she didn't want just anybody. Even though she wasn't interested in the jocks at school, it did bother her that no one on the sports teams hit on her. She knew they may have liked her, probably not with innocent intentions, but they never really asked her on a date or anything.

In fact, no one did, and she didn't know why.

But enough of the past, Ron was more important right now. She wasn't sure if going into a relationship was the right step to go in, but she didn't want to scare him, either. Not as a boyfriend, but as her best friend.

She had to admit, though, that her lips on Ron's had an unbelievable feel to it. She didn't even know if her reaction after he fell to the floor was part of the moodulator or not. That's how much she enjoyed it. Whoever his first girlfriend was, she'd be happy.

The two later realized that this would have been a bad way to start a relationship if they went along with it. Both of them would much prefer if feelings started to evolve first instead of starting at level one and then jumping to fifty. It was more important to keep their friendship alive than to risk the relationship. At the speed it was going, neither of them was ready for it.

At this point, both Kim and Ron had reached her doorway, and they needed to tell each other how they felt.

"KP…? Do you think there's…"

"I do."

Ron's head lifted when hearing this, "Really?"

Kim nodded, "But I don't think I'm ready for it. Not like this, no."

Ron let out a relieved sigh, "I completely agree with you, Kim."

"You do?"

Ron nodded, "Don't you think it'd be a bit fast if we just went into a relationship just like that? I don't think it would work."

Kim agreed, "Yeah. I also don't want to rush things."

Both of them were shaking and nervous.

"So… you okay?" Ron asked, "Sorry I didn't ask earlier."

"No big," Kim calmly replied, "I'll need to sleep on this one. Kinda feeling motion sickness."

One letter off, but it was probably an effect from the moodulator crash.

Ron sighed but he had to say some things, "Sorry I had to, you know, dump you."

Kim started feeling uncomfortable at these words, but lightly nodded, gesturing for Ron to continue. She knew that Ron wasn't aware of the moodulator until just before Drakken showed up, but one thing was true: She went out with him, and he dumped her. He wasn't going to let a relationship evolve. Not now. Maybe he didn't want to go out with her after all.

"I just didn't want it to tank, it was just going to fast for me and I knew that if I was going to go along with it, it was going to, and that'd put our friendship in havoc. That's something I'm not ready to risk yet, KP, in case you still wanted to go on with it."

"So you're saying if I wanted to go out with you…"

"I couldn't do it. Not now."

Kim sighed, "I understand. But we're still best friends, right?"

He let out a calm sigh, "I hope so. What do you think?"

"Of course."

He let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, but how are you going to explain this to your parents?"

"I've got it handled. They might not like it, but I think the earlier I'm home with this dress on, the better."

"When did you get that anyway?"

"In Europe, I think. Remember we had to meet up with Mr. Apocy in formal wear and it was soooo hot?"

"Now I remember! Wait a minute, you went alone on that one."

"That's right, you were in detention."

"It's not my fault our mission was right before homeroom!"

"If you decided to release your parachute much later you would've gotten to class on time like I did."

Ron stuck out his tongue as Kim just curved her eyes, both letting out a quiet chuckle. To both of them, after a night of mayhem, it was good to see each other as they always remembered. Perhaps for now it was best this way.

"So, I think this is the end of it," Kim calmly spoke.

"I suppose so."

Ron was going to leave, but Kim grabbed his hand and before he realized it, he felt a warm and tender kiss on his cheek. Surprised, he slowly turned his eyes toward Kim, who instantly gave him a tight hug. He didn't know what to make of it, except that it could've been the moodulator. Where he was now, he could clearly see Kim's neck, but all he saw was just the marks that it left behind. It looked like Kim was given a dozen shots in a circular pattern.

Kim spoke gently, "Ron…? Thanks for not taking advantage of the situation. There's no telling what would've happened if this thing made me go crazy for someone else. I'm glad that when the moodulator made me act towards a specific person, that it was you."

Ron slowly lifted his arms and gently took Kim off of him. "I couldn't live with myself if I even had the thought of wanting to do that, Kim."

"Good night."

"Good night, KP."

With that, the two turned around, Kim heading up to her door, and Ron walking down the lawn.

"Oh! Ron!"

Ron quickly turned around to hear what Kim had to say, who was pointing at her black dress.

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll be your ticket to the grave!"

Ron took the threat lightly, "Okay!"

"Ron! I mean it!"

"Sure sure, good night, KP."

With that, Kim let out a sigh and went inside. The second she closed the door, she leaned against it as her face dropped, sitting down. Her mom was nearby and quickly noticed this.

"Kimmie? What happened?"

Kim's voice sounded fragile, "Mom, my feelings for Ron was caused by a device called a moodulator. They weren't real."

"But…?" Mrs. Possible knew there was a real reason her daughter was trying to hold in her tears. She couldn't tell if they were of sadness, confusion, or rage.

"He dumped me. I know I shouldn't feel bad because he knew I wasn't acting normal and was afraid our friendship was at risk, but… I don't know how I feel anymore."

"About Ron?"

"About everything. Today, I felt things, things I didn't want everyone to see me feel, and today I unleashed all of them. Crying, anger, lu-"

"You should sleep on it, Kimmie. You'll probably feel better in the morning if you want to talk about it then."

"Okay. Thanks, mom."

Kim quickly got up and stormed into her room, confused out of her mind. Her mom looked disappointed.

She sighed and whispered to herself, "I was hoping this was finally it…"

Meanwhile, Ron was slouching the entire walk home, feeling miserable.

"Why did I tell her that? Why did I tell her if she asked me out that I couldn't accept! Urgh!"

Trying to get out of the pickle suit and onto Ron's shoulder wasn't easy, but Rufus managed to get on his arm.

"It's okay," the naked mole rat muttered.

"No, it's not okay, Rufus. I can't believe I didn't put her feelings into consideration. She actually felt hurt by what I said. I saw it in her eyes, Rufus."

Rufus let out a sad sigh, not knowing what else to say. Ron also decided that he was going to sleep on this one.

* * *

"Mom, I was afraid that he didn't like me that way, and I was confused." 

"Yes, but he knew that you weren't confident in your feelings. Don't you see why he did it? He was afraid to lose everything. Kim, you _are_ everything to him. You know that, don't you?"

"I suppose, yeah. Yeah. Yeah! I was there before Rufus and Bueno Nacho, though those come in pretty close." Kim realized, "But I've got no leads on where he's at."

"You've tried contacting Wade, right?"

Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator from her pocket. "Yep, and he won't pick up, probably not wanting us to ask who's right and wrong."

"Have you tried _calling_ him? Through the _phone?"_

At this point, Kim's became wide-eyed and almost fell off her bed, frozen. She couldn't believe that she didn't.

Her mom smiled at this point, getting off the bed, "I think you know what to do."

"Thanks, mom."

"Don't mention it."

Outside, Mrs. Dr. Possible closed Kim's door, only to find her husband and two sons crouching nearby, listening in.

Her husband got up, "Looks like you've handled another one."

She smiled modestly, "I just needed to remind her that Ron wasn't going to leave her just like that."

Jim agreed, "Yeah, he's been there since before we were even born. He's not going to leave just now because he and Kim messed up on a mission."

It was no surprise the tweebs looked up to Ron like a big brother.

Tim just had to ask, "Cool. Can we still tranquilize her anyway?"

"NO!" his parents barked.

This was interrupted by a loud and frustrated groan from inside Kim's room. Everyone put an ear up to her door.

"_What do you _mean_ you have no idea where he's at? … He didn't tell you? … I was at fault, Wade, that's why. I just want to know where he is… Don't you have him chipped? … Oh, that's right, he learned how to turn off his chip when he went to look for me that one time… No, I don't know how he did it… So you can't trace him? … What about Rufus? … Cell phone? Go for that… What? … Destroyed? … No… Try it again! … Where did you say it was last traced? … I don't have a TV up here, hold on."_

Hearing approaching footsteps, Kim's family moved away from the door as Kim burst through it and stormed her way downstairs, now in her mission gear. They all followed. Downstairs, Kim reached her TV with her wireless phone in hand, flipping through the channels until she reached the news, almost gasping at the first sight.

Bueno Nacho HQ was set ablaze, clearly an explosion.

"And you said his cell phone's signal was there last?" Kim sounded extremely concerned in her voice.

"That's in Bay City, California!" Jim realized.

"What's Ron doing there?" Tim asked, surprised.

"Okay, great. Thanks a ton, Wade. Bye." Kim finished.

Tossing the phone on the couch, Kim quickly scrambled across the house to grab whatever other mission equipment she needed.

"Kim, what's going on?" her mom asked in the same tone as her daughter.

"Ron's cell phone was last detected on the 80th floor of Bueno Nacho HQ in Bay City, California," she quickly answered, locating her backpack and putting it on.

"That's where the explosion was at," Tim read on the TV.

Kim ran back up to the TV, where she and her family read the scrolling text on the bottom of the screen out loud in unison.

"Explosion on the 80th floor of Bueno Nacho Enterprises Headquarters… A meeting was being held to discuss the future of Bueno Nacho at the time of the explosion… Explosion time was approximately at 9:18 PM Pacific Time…"

Kim looked at her watch. 11:23 PM. Because of the time differences, it only happened just minutes ago. Just then, loud engines could be heard roaring outside, not allowing for anything else to be heard in the immediate area.

"There's my ride!" Kim yelled. "Don't expect this to be a one-day trip!"

Her dad gave her a thumbs-up, acknowledging this. Shortly after Kim closed the door, the huge jet outside took off. Her family had covered their ears most of the time, and they were all relieved to take their hands off. They all kept their eyes on the news, curious and concerned at what may have happened.

Behind one the reporters, Ron could be seen in the background helping someone into an ambulance. The whole family had let out a sigh of relief, the parents almost celebrating. But it wasn't to last long, as the report had a word that caught the family's eye:

Assassination Attempt.

* * *

Bay City, California: 7:46 PM Pacific Time. 

Ron was riding on the train that ran through town, asleep. He had spent an exhausting day doing just about any and everything he could.

First, it started at the main arcade in town. The arcade was anything but cleverly titled, "Game Fantasy," but what was inside made up for it. The arcade genre was one that was dying, but this place was not only huge, but many of its titles revealed that developers still had a trick or two up its sleeve on it.

This was both good and bad, especially considering the offer that was made: Free Play on all machines for ten dollars. Not that it mattered to Ron, as Ferno covered his trip, but free play made him all giddy inside. Dancing games, shooting games, racing games, especially the Ferrari simulation one where the creators emulated the inside and physics of a Ferrari F355 Spider so well that Ferrari racers used it as a training device, one reportedly breaking his record on a track by four seconds thanks to it. What would cost three dollars to play, all for free, and it didn't matter if he crashed the car. Ron took a liking to this one, seeing that it taught him to drive and he didn't have Barkin next to him. Only problem was that he was on it for an hour and a line of kids were built up behind him, all who were constantly interrupting his games and leaving a minute later. This wasn't the only landmark for Ron, as Zombie Mayhem 6 was finally released.

After about four hours playing that one, he explored the malls for anything interesting, but he found nothing he wanted. It was awkward that many girls were hitting on him, but never heard of Kim Possible. What was it that he did to make himself so recognizable? He had no idea, and the girls refused to tell him when he asked, thinking he was joking.

He had actually spent late lunch with Nev, who introduced him to the ice smoothies served at the airport. Indeed, they were delicious, but both wound up with brain freeze. Unfortunately, the girls he had warned Ron about came back and now Ron knew why Nev feared/hated them. They were constantly trying to play with their emotions, asking if the boys liked them, always laughing like the two boys weren't in their league despite being five years younger than them.

Nev called security, and Yuri was more than glad to get rid of the two girls that people were often complaining about, working as a luggage transporter and security guard.

Ron spent the rest of the day alone with Rufus, as Nev had things he had to attend to back in his lab.

Ron wasn't exactly into most of the events the city had to offer. Internet cafes weren't his thing, that and it was too packed for even Rufus to get through. He played a few game demos in some other game stores, but he decided to go back to the arcade.

Unfortunately, when he was trying to play one of the dancing ones again, his pants fell off. But this didn't stop him, and the people who were watching found it rather enjoyable that a guy was dancing on a machine like this with his pants trapping his legs like handcuffs. Some of them thought it was part of the act.

By the time it was all over, it was almost 7:30, and Ron decided to take the transport train to Bueno Nacho HQ. He didn't intend on taking a nap, but it happened anyway. Rufus had been trying to wake him up for the last half hour, as the stop near Bueno Nacho HQ came and went several times. He would just not wake up. Rufus had to finally resort to a wet willie to awaken Ron, and it worked.

After a minute of stretching, Ron's attention went back to the window as the buildings passed by him, lit by the cyan lights of the city below. Some of the buildings had their own lights, mostly a navy blue color that gave the city a futuristic feel.

If only Kim could see this. Much like Kim, Ron's thoughts, despite having fun and misfortune in his day, were on her the entire time. His thoughts quickly went to his cell phone, which he had left in his pocket.

It was off. Well, great. Ron wouldn't have any idea if anybody had called unless they left a voicemail. He tried to call, but the signal was horribly weak.

"No –ew mes-ag-s. Ma- men-"

He was able to make out "No new messages. Main Menu," but anybody could've called. He found it rather awkward that Kim never got herself a cell phone, but he did. The more he thought about it, it probably wasn't the best idea to call her now, unless he wanted a conversation that would last for hours, and he didn't want to skip the meeting at Bueno Nacho.

He grabbed a handbar nearby as the train started coming to a stop, almost losing his balance when it did.

It stopped at a convenient location just across the street on a train station about 20 floors up. Luckily for all the passengers, there were at least twelve elevators. Ron and Rufus quickly found an empty one and pressed the button for the first floor. The instant Ron's finger pushed the button all the way in, he found himself crushed by at least twenty others crowding the elevator. Fortunately, the elevator's descent was quick.

After all the people on the elevator left, Ron slowly walked out like a jagged puppet, stretching his arms and legs at least three times to make sure he could still walk. After walking out the main entrance of the building, he quickly ran across the street, almost getting run over three times in the process. It wouldn't take him long to notice there was a crosswalk nearby.

But right now he stood in front of the very building itself. It was huge, it was glowing, and tears almost came out of Ron and Rufus' eyes when they saw the glowing animating taco on the front of everything.

"You think you're ready for this, buddy?"

"Mmmhmm!"

Ron instantly stormed in, but it wasn't what he expected. This was Bueno Nacho HQ, but all he saw was… Bueno Nacho. Restaurant Bueno Nacho. That was at first glance, however, as he noticed a few desks nearby, and what appeared to be a Help box with someone on the other side. He stepped up to the window and knocked lightly, as the girl behind it was reading a magazine. She lifted her head, and the two recognized each other.

"Oh, hi Ron."

"Yuri? You work here too?"

"Luggage transporter and security guard at the airport on day shift, help manager at Bueno Nacho on night shift. So what's up?"

"I came here to see the board at 8 PM, but this… this is the right building, right?"

Yuri scoffed, "I gave you directions myself, Ron. Of course this is it."

"Well, sorry for asking."

Yuri just laughed, "Don't worry about it, I'm just messing with ya. You see, this was just the first floor, but people thought this was the restaurant and not just the corporate building, and the numbers grew. So, we decided to open another restaurant here, and we get more money and less complaints."

"Oh, I see. So anyway…"

"You're expected on the 80th floor at 8. You've got 8 minutes. Gee, those are weird odds. Elevators are located to your far right." Yuri pushed her arm through the small opening of the window and pointed at Ron's right, at the doors with the large red word "Elevator" on it.

"Gotcha, and thanks again!"

Ron started storming off for the elevator, since a ride to the 80th floor would take some time.

"Might want to grab something when you're near the 80th floor!" Yuri hollered.

After Ron pressed the buttons inside the elevator for the 80th floor, he gave Yuri a thumbs-up, confirming that heard her warning. The doors shut shortly after.

The elevator was huge, probably enough to fit forty others. One thing that caught Ron's eye was that the elevator's sides were covered in glass, allowing for a perfect view of the city at night. It was dark, lit only by the various lights below, from spotlights, traffic, and lights Ron couldn't even see. It wasn't a cloudy day like the previous day, so the stars were glowing. He could see everything.

Unfortunately, he didn't pay attention to where he was at, and the elevator came to an abrupt stop, knocking him off his feet.

The elevator had actually gone up at an incredibly fast rate, which Ron never noticed nor felt until it came to a stop. Now he knew why Yuri had warned him of grabbing onto something: Not only was falling on your back the least welcome feeling, but he also felt extremely queasy. Rufus had been grabbing onto him the whole time, and despite Ron flying back, he didn't feel it.

Fortunately for Ron, the bathrooms were placed just outside the elevator.

* * *

The meeting had started despite that there was a minute remaining, and the President of Bueno Nacho, Benjamin Ferno, a man in his late thirties, was setting up boards and diagrams for his team members to read and analyze. He was just about to speak when the door opened. 

Just about everybody but Ferno was surprised to see the identity of the boy who walked in the room. When Ferno told them he was inviting a special guest, they had expected someone in his fifties or sixties, someone who was a bombshell in the field, not somebody who appeared to have just gotten out of puberty.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our special guest who will help us revive the name of Bueno Nacho, Mr. Ronald Stoppable."

Nervous, Ron just waved. "Hi."

He also noticed that many of them were glaring at his pet, who was messing with their heads by doing bodybuilder poses. A naked mole rat was one strange thing, making fun of them was another.

"Oh, this is my pet Rufus."

"Hi!"

Ferno appeared to be pleased, "I'm glad you decided to accept my offer, Mr. Stoppable."

"Just call me Ron. But how did you know I was even here?"

"I have my ways." Ferno smiled at Ron, but it was a warm smile. "Well, let's get this party started, shall we?"

The meeting took place immediately after, and Ferno explained through board diagrams of the company's finances, stocks, and explained that they had been in a landslide ever since the Diablo threat. It was also revealed that Drakken used most of Bueno Nacho's finances to mass-produce his mini-WMDs, more than half of it. The company barely survived, just enough to still resume business. But as they had come to expect, several people worldwide avoided the restaurant and stopped eating there, and despite the company's efforts to assure everyone that the one responsible was in jail, the public didn't buy it.

Two more months of this and it would be all over.

Ferno explained that the point of this meeting was to find a different way of attracting people back. Would it be a good idea to create a mascot? Maybe they would make a new logo and give the place a more non-traditional design? Different food variations? While the board felt like they were out of ideas, Ferno decided to reveal his reason for inviting Ron, as the board members did not understand why Ferno invited a teenager all the way from some place called Middleton.

"The reason I invited Ron Stoppable was because not only is he reportedly our number one customer, but he's also the creator of the 'Naco,' which doubled our shares. For that vacation we all had six months ago on that cruise, he's to thank."

Instantly, the board stood up and applauded, finally recognizing who Ron was. He felt a tad bit embarrassed at this, but on the outside, he took it all modestly.

"Please, it's not that big of a deal."

"Are you kidding?" one of the older bald men asked, "The bonus was enough to send my children to college!"

"And me," a younger female in her early thirties intervened, "I found my husband on that cruise."

"You have no idea how much your little invention impacted us," Ferno finished.

Ron had no idea what to say, "Wow, I guess not."

After everyone sat down, Ferno then went to explain -now with Ron's full attention- all of the explained changes, but in much greater detail. For possible mascots, he showed designs and sketches from various sources, and Ron almost interrupted with laughter when he noticed a Chihuahua with a giant X on it, clearly rejected. For new logos, there were almost endless pages, and they weren't that different than the logo now. It started with the taco in the design. Some images were extremely simplified, perhaps having only four different colors, some were computer generated, one appeared to be drawn by a comic book artist, and then a slightly modified version of the current logo. Then there was the text. This is where things got hectic, as hundreds of fonts were used, one for each of the four taco designs, with various colors and effects. So many of them looked good, but to Ron, it wasn't really necessary. Ferno explained more and more of what the board had gathered, but when it was all over,

"Ron? Any thoughts?"

Ron rose from his chair, slouching, then quietly walked up to Ferno.

"Dude, you're doing this all wrong. Rufus?"

"Yup?"

"It's time we pull out the big guns. Initiate Operation 101."

"You got it!"

The board was instantly confused, watching as the naked mole rat pulled out a bow tie and what appeared to be a small business suit, and put them on. Ferno was amused.

Drawing on the back of the diagrams, Ron explained what they were doing right and doing wrong. The problem he saw with their antics was that they were trying to be like everybody else in terms of design. He pointed out approved designs that had strong resemblance to other places, food variations that other places had, and even the mascot had similarities to other places.

Ron's plan was basic. Perhaps Bueno Nacho did need a bit of a facelift, only enough to appease to new people but still have the classic feel that self-proclaimed veterans such as him had grown up with. The board was actually thinking of getting rid of the whole teen-hangout look and feel, and Ron was immediately against this, grabbing his wallet and showing pictures of him and Kim hanging out there. It may not have been the best idea on Ron's account. While his early 'dates' with her were spent there, Kim had mixed faces. Sometimes she appeared bored on the older ones, long before they started dating, but seemed to be more focused on her boyfriend on the later ones when they were. Some of the pictures were taken inside, most outside.

One picture that Ron accidentally handed out was a picture of Rufus laying down on a plate with a giant stomach. It gave everyone in the room a chuckle. He also handed one of Kim kissing him on the cheek.

"So yeah, big no no on getting rid of the tables and chairs outside and inside and that stuff. Any questions?"

Just about everyone but Ferno answered, "You're Kim Possible's _boyfriend?"_

Ron almost fell on the desk, and the board quickly began to whisper among themselves excitedly. Not only did she save some of them a few times, probably not remembering it, but they also knew that she was the one who helped save Bueno Nacho along with Ron. Now they recognized him further, as Ron was the one who captured Drakken on the Worldwide Diablo Crisis.

Not to Ron's surprise, they thought it was cute that they were dating.

Ferno noticed the surprised and excited looks on the board members, "Did I fail to mention that Ron put that Drakken guy in jail?"

Everyone excitedly nodded. Ferno just rolled his eyes at himself. Ron on the other hand was just silent, anxious for the pictures to return, and they shortly did.

"And that's where me and KP spend a lot of time together. So don't get rid of the pub image!"

Everyone agreed. Ron took a huge sigh, and then prepared for another speech. He continued his presentation on everything that should be done, which wasn't much, but just to make everything new but keep it classic. He went on great detail on this, probably talking about it for over a half hour.

The board was convinced. Ron Stoppable wasn't a genius; he was a legend.

The meeting came to an abrupt halt when a projectile weapon came through the window and landed in the center of the large table. It was spinning fast, but when it slowed down, everybody in the room instantly recognized it.

"GRENADE!"

However, it failed to immediately detonate. All of the board members including Ferno froze to stare at it, but Ron immediately took action, yelling at all of them.

"Get out of here! Now!"

Their attention was being disrupted by Ron, who was acting like some military officer and yelling at everyone to get the hell out of there, all with a fierce and serious tone. Realizing that the grenade would probably go off soon, they scrambled out of the room and into the elevator, dropping everything that was in their hands. For Ron, this also included his cell phone.

Making sure the room was completely evacuated; Ron followed them, but was shocked to find them in the elevator. Depending on the explosion and what kind of grenade it was, there was a possibility that the elevator mechanics would be destroyed in the explosion, sending it 80 floors below to its doom. One of the board members revealed something to Ron.

"There's no stairs. The guys were supposed to come and build them next week, but…"

Ron noticed the bathrooms nearby. Knowing that all the pipes that surrounded the area would ease the explosion's impact, he quickly pushed any nearby board members into it, then went in himself.

"You're aware that this is the women's bathroom, don't you?" one of them asked.

Ron didn't answer, instead he put his hand up as if telling the board to stay silent.

A faint but high-pitched whirring noise could be heard, sounding like it was getting louder or bigger. When the pitch was starting to rival that of nails on chalkboard, it suddenly stopped.

Just then, a loud explosion could be heard everywhere as the lights went out. Soon, the pitch-black room was lit only by the flames on the other side of the door. As the impact of the explosion widened, the bathroom began to shake violently, breaking all of the mirrors and sending a several water pipes loose, spraying the entire area. It had only lasted for less than three seconds, and after it was all over, Ron decided to get up and explore the area. His face was almost engulfed in smoke when he opened the door, but it wasn't a lot. He crept in low and peeked his head outside.

The entire floor was nearly destroyed. Only the bathrooms survived, and just as he predicted, the elevator was sent crashing below. He only hoped the explosion caused people on the lower floors to panic and leave. He crawled back inside into the pitch-black bathroom, not able to see anything inside except the floor near the door.

"Everyone okay?"

"Perfect."

"Scratched, but I'll be fine."

"Physically, yes. Mentally? That'll take a while."

"Wait until my husband and my kids hear about this!"

"That was freaking awesome!"

"They always make explosions seem scary, but that was the adrenaline rush I needed! I'd better get home to my wife before it wears off."

"It sounds like we're all fine, thanks to you, Ron," Ferno's voice echoed.

"Alrighty then. Rufus? You still alive back there?"

"Booyah."

"Wait a minute, that's only six of our members," Ferno realized. "Tom? Tom?"

A small groan could be heard, "Get an ambulance. I think I'm having a heart attack."

Ferno pulled out his cell phone, which pretty much lit the entire room. Everyone's focus went into the old man clutching his chest. Three digits were punched.

"There's been an explosion on the 80th floor of Bueno Nacho HQ and we have no methods of getting down, and one of our boys is having a heart attack. Send a helicopter and an ambulance as fast as you can."

Two board members helped Tom Michael on his feet, who quickly popped an aspirin pill into his mouth.

"That should take care of it for some time. Provided they get here in at least an hour, I'll be fine."

* * *

A half hour later, the scene had completely changed. Police Helicopters had arrived on the scene and helped all the board members on the plane, starting with Ron, Ferno, and Michael, and then the rest. The fires set off by the explosion had been put out for some time, but not before news choppers got some nasty footage of it. 

Much to the dismay of the police and security, all kinds of news trucks parked just outside the building, trying to get whatever footage they could. Security did a good job of securing Michael, however, keeping the cameras away from Ferno and Ron as they assisted him into a nearby ambulance. Michael waved a specific finger at the cameras before the doors of the ambulance closed, and it drove off. Having no idea they were being filmed, Ferno and Ron shared a discussion.

"I suppose it was a really really really good idea to invite you over, Ronald."

Ron scoffed modestly, "Please, it's what I do."

"You saved the entire board. If it weren't for you and your bravery, all of us would've froze in that room until the grenade went off. We owe our lives to you. Thank you."

Ron just shrugged, "No big. But…" He turned his head in all sorts of directions, "You'd better head home. Looks like some reporters are eyeing us, and I don't want to spend all night telling people of what's going on."

"Agreed. You should go back to your hotel room and get some rest. Again, thank you."

Ferno tried to sneak to his car in the rear parking lot of the building, having to tell security over and over that he was a witness trying to get to his car. Ron on the other hand got things the easy way; Since he wasn't in his mission gear, he was actually mistaken for a pedestrian by a security guard and kicked Ron out of the area, threatening that he'd have the police send him home if he refused.

Ron shared a look with his pet. "Nah, I want to take a look around."

He got a ride back to the hotel in a police car.

Upstairs in his room, Ron could see the blaze of the building just outside his window. He actually chuckled at the sight.

"Maybe that's what they need for a new logo; a flaming taco."

But he wasn't awake for long. He collapsed on his bed and was snoring the second his back hit the mattress. Rufus fell asleep at the same time his owner did.

* * *

Later, several blocks away on the outskirts of the city, a dark figure wearing some kind of body suit flies between the buildings, armed with little more than two grappling hooks. While the city streets are lit with police lights and the usual city glow, the high areas near the rooftops are completely dark, more than the sky above it. Because of the speed the individual flies at, they are virtually invisible. 

They stop on top of one of the buildings, taking witness to the smoke of Bueno Nacho HQ, which appears to be several miles ahead.

"How much longer?"

"_A mile and two blocks north," _a voice with interference replied on the other end.

* * *

Ron's room is lit by all the commotion outside. If there was one thing that Ron didn't like about this room, it was that the blinds were broken, not allowing him to block out the light coming in. There was a door and a balcony on the other side that was perfect for a view, but when it came to sleeping, forget it. 

None of that bothered him right now, though, as he was as dead as a log snoring loudly, as he had been doing for the last two hours.

The light in his room quickly turned to darkness as a human shadow blocked the light, leaning against the door of the window. They opened it slowly so that it wouldn't screech and wake their target up. It took about three minutes just to squeeze through, as the intruder had a slim figure.

Walking slowly toward Ron, he or she took a few seconds to analyze him. Something was comical about seeing Ron sleep so peacefully and snore. Suddenly, he stopped, but still appeared to be asleep. Just when the intruder decided to get a closer look, Ron was suddenly wide awake and holding Rufus like a gun, whose teeth were on his or her neck.

"Don't move."

Ron slowly got out of the bed as the intruder put their hands up. They appeared to be carrying no weapons, but wore a big backpack, enough to last them for a weeklong trip. Ron tried to analyze this person, suspecting them of being the person who attacked Bueno Nacho. He couldn't see any of their facial features, as their mask revealed no skin or any hair. He then tried to analyze them starting from the feet.

'Feet… legs… waist… belly…' 

His face immediately turned red when he noticed the chest, and looked away.

'_Okay, feminine build…'_ he thought. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to. Wait a minute, why am I apologizing to you?"

Without a second to think, Ron quickly grabbed the mask with his open hand and pulled it off. He froze the second he recognized her face.

"Kim? What ar-mppph!"

She shut him up with a kiss to the lips.


	5. 04: Termination

**Chapter 4: Termination**

**

* * *

**

Before Ron knew it, Kim had pinned him to the bed and was pressing her lips hard against his. This wasn't like Kim at all and it almost scared him, but he couldn't resist it, eventually giving in and wrapping his arms around her body.

Five minutes felt like forever, and when it was all over, the two were looking at each other, laying on top of the same bed. Before Ron could say something, Kim held him extremely tight.

"Ron, please don't leave me like that ever again. I am so sorry."

"I should be the one apologizing."

"No Ron, this is all my fault. It was wrong for me to blame everything on you when I didn't tell you of my plan."

"But I sure deserved what I got. No guy should ever hurt you the way I did regardless if it was an accident or not."

"Stop it. I shouldn't have snapped the way I did."

"Not the first time I messed up on a mission, Kim."

"Wrong. It's not the first time _we_ messed up on a mission, Ron."

Ron sighed, seeing that it was pointless to argue with Kim. He did feel a bit relieved though that she came to apologize.

"So, how'd you find me?"

"Wade. I finally got through to him by calling his home phone, and his mom made sure he would talk. He said the signal released by your cell phone was completely destroyed, last detected on the top floor of Bueno Nacho HQ."

With this said, Ron realized that he didn't have his phone on him, probably dropping it when he tried to get everyone out of the boardroom.

"Aw man! I was on the forth level of Metal Slug 3!"

_(Author's note: Don't ask me where you can get MS3 on your cell phone. It's called fiction, baby.)_

Kim lifted her head from Ron's chest and put her nose on his, "It's okay, Ronnie. I'll buy you a new one."

"I still can't believe I let you call me that."

Kim scoffed, "I still can't believe I let you call me Kimbo all these years!"

The two then held each other as tight as they could as their heads crashed into the pillows. The two continued to talk in darkness.

"I'd love to hug and kiss more, Kim, but I'm tired."

"So am I. I spent the whole day figuring out where you were."

"It's only been two days."

"Two days of having no idea where you were! I was sick and worried! Are you saying you didn't miss me?"

"Of course I missed you," Ron answered with a smug look, "I just kept myself occupied to avoid being depressed out of my mind."

Kim pouted, "See, you can do that. I can't."

"So… no missions, eh?"

"Nope, but I can see you had one."

"What, the Bueno Nacho thing?"

"Yeah, Wade had given me all the video feeds he got on the way over, and I saw you escorting all the board members on the streets and one guy into the ambulance. You're a hero, Ron."

"You don't sound surprised."

"We save lives all the time, Ron. Should I be?"

"I suppose not. Speaking of surprises, what's with the stealth suit again?"

"Wanted to surprise you, but I can see the training at Yamanuchi paid off."

"I think a kiss on the lips like that qualifies as a surprise, Kim."

Despite that the two wanted to talk endlessly, they were far too tired to.

* * *

The next morning, the blinding light was more than enough to wake her up, and when she came to, she was slightly embarrassed that she had been wearing her stealth suit the entire time next to Ron. Her parents would have probably killed her and/or Ron if they found out she had been sleeping in the same bed as him, but it wasn't like she had done anything questionable. 

Seeing that Ron was still asleep, Kim decided to grab her bag from the other side of the bed and took out some clothes and shower equipment. She figured it would be nice for her to be clean as Ron woke up.

Instead, when she came out wearing a pink shirt and white shorts, she found that Ron was completely awake and watching the news, trying to get any information on what had happened.

"Mornin, Kim."

Kim playfully jumped on the bed and sat next to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Anything?"

"Yup, and I'm not sure I'm liking it."

Kim gave Ron a concerned gaze, "Spill."

"This was the first grenade attack in the city, and while some believe it was a terrorist act, it was an assassination attempt."

"Because it was aimed at a specific person or group instead of aiming for mass casualties…?"

"Bingo, and guess whose face is listed as the target?"

A picture of Ron was revealed on the TV as the prime target of the assassination attempt. However, this picture of Ron was taken at a carnival on a date with Kim, having a queasy face, covering his mouth with his hand, and his hair flying back.

"Where'd they get _that_ picture?" Ron practically demanded.

Kim looked mortified, "You think _you_ look bad? I'm out of high school and still haven't made a decent picture!"

As the picture zoomed out, it was revealed that Kim was also in the picture. It was the last thing anyone would want to be seen doing: Picking their nose. Ron actually found himself laughing at the expression Kim was making in the picture, soon finding himself on the floor as Kim kicked him off the bed.

"Not funny, Ron!"

He wouldn't stop laughing, even after she slapped him around with the pillows. To her surprise, he managed to grab her arm and dragged her on top of him, then snatched one of the pillows in her hand and attacked her with it. Clear to say, they broke out in a pillow fight, eventually getting up and chasing each other around the room.

After it was all said and done, Kim stood victorious on the bed.

"Booyah," she spoke with a proud smirk.

However, Ron had a rather surprised expression on his face, "Did you just say, 'Booyah', KP? Just, no."

"Who's standing on top of the bed, Ron?"

"But 'Booyah', Kimbo? That's my line and that _so_ doesn't work on you," he whined.

Instead of answering verbally, Kim just hopped off the bed and gave her boyfriend a raspberry. He fired back with the same weapon, and then it evolved into some kind of raspberry war to see who could last the longest or be the loudest.

This time Ron had the advantage; probably the master of goofy faces, and sticking out his tongue just happened to be among them. Kim tried to fight back, but her tongue was much smaller and she couldn't stick it out as far as she thought she could. As the war went on, however, neither of them realized they were coming closer to each other, not opening their eyes between takes.

It eventually ended with they both 'attacked' simultaneously, both making contact with their tongues.

Romantic? Not with these two. Both of them instantly stopped and frantically rubbed their tongues, all while gibbering absolute nonsense. They had made out a lot in their relationship, much more than their parents would want to know (it's nearing 500), but they hadn't exactly gotten to the level of using the tongue yet. It was too awkward for both of them.

Today's flavor? Morning breath.

Ron came out of the bathroom, "Okay, no harsh feelings, KP, but I'm so not ready for that."

"Ew, tongue? So not yet."

Their little moment was interrupted when a small naked mole rat was rubbing his stomach, whining.

"I guess it's time, huh, KP?"

"I sup-"

Kim was interrupted by a long moaning noise coming from her belly. Her face turned purple when she realized it, more so that Ron and Rufus were bawling on the floor. Just as she covered her face, Ron got up and pulled her hands away so she could see him.

"I'll take that as a yes. I'm gonna shower and after that we'll head off."

Kim just stared at Ron the entire time with an expressionless look on her face. How was he able to tolerate those embarrassing moments the entire time they were dating? Surely any other guy would've been freaked out or thought it was unfeminine or gross, but Ron seemed to like it for some reason. It wasn't like she was completely overdoing it, though.

* * *

An hour passed before they were all eating at a fancy restaurant called "Killer Waffles." Kim was quick to think the name, while original, was pushing it a bit, but that didn't stop Ron almost becoming possessed by the aroma of home cooked waffles. 

But as he and Rufus found out, they weren't the ones to chow down. In fact, Kim's new eating habits had almost scared them. She ordered twice the food they had, combined, and she just dumped the plate's contents into her mouth, followed by the drink. What took Ron and Rufus at least eight minutes to consume, Kim did it in less than one.

And to finish it off, Kim let out a tiny burp and wiped her mouth with her napkin. She was quick to notice that her boyfriend and his pet were staring at her in awe.

"Sorry about that, but I haven't been eating well the last two days, not to mention I skipped dinner," she innocently beamed.

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

Ron still had a waffle hanging from his mouth when Kim picked up her Kimmunicator, "Hey Wade, what's happening?"

_"I'm guessing you found Ron."_

Kim nodded, "How'd you know?"

_"You have a thing with not eating well when you're stressed out, and..."_ Wade paused to inspect Kim's teeth, his eye taking up the entire screen, _"You've got a lot of food in your mouth."_

Kim turned pale when the Kimmunicator turned into a mirror, showing all the food in her mouth. Without a moment to think, Kim picked up whatever drink she could and rinsed her mouth off.

"_Okay, Kim. Not bad. But for the record, _hot sauce_ is not exactly ideal for that kind of situation."_

"Hough sauche?" Kim asked with her mouth full. She quickly put the bottle down to see what it was labeled.

_Los Mariachis Loco Hot Sauce _(The Crazy Mariachis Hot Sauce)_  
_

"Hogh suache?" Kim asked again in disbelief as she swallowed the sauce in one gulp, "Who would eat hot sauce with their…"

She noticed that Ron had another order and was putting some hot sauce on his waffles. He had already taken the precaution of ordering two ice cold lemonades for her.

"… never mind."

Ron traded winks with Rufus, "And that hot sauce should be kicking in… three, two, one…"

On zero, Kim's face turned crimson red as the hot sauce kicked in. It was a bad idea to put some in her mouth, but it was a much worse idea to swallow it all, as she felt the burn through her entire body. Noticing the drinks Ron got for her, she quickly sucked both of them down in a few seconds. Now that that was out of the way, she started gasping and hyperventilating for air.

"What was I thinking?" Kim asked herself after a few coughs.

"Pffft. Amateur," Ron taunted, "Bueno Nacho's Diablo Hot Sauce is ten times worse than that."

"Where do you get the stomach for this stuff?"

It took him a few seconds to think, "You know, I never thought about that."

Kim's attention was diverted back to her Kimmunicator when she realized Wade had fallen off his chair, laughing the whole time.

"_Please tell me that was the first of many!"_

Kim rolled her eyes, "Surely you didn't just call me to see how Ron was in some plan to make fun of me, Wade."

Wade caught himself and managed to pull himself back onto his feet, _"Sorry, that was just too much. Well, since Ron hadn't called me about his trip to Bay City, I was sorta worried about him too. You both didn't happen to listen to the news this morning, did you?"_

"Sure did," Ron spoke with his mouth full, then playfully answered, "I'm a target for assassination!"

"_You make that sound like it's a good thing, Ron. Believe me, it's not. In fact, this is bad. Real bad."_

"Are you sure those reports are accurate, Wade?" Kim asked with a half-concerned half-suspicious look in her eyes.

"_Based on reports of violence in the city, it appears so. I'll explain. You see, Bay City is largest in corporate sales, deals and handlings, recently beating Go City in just about everything. Right now it's the most expensive city in the country. That said, there's also a lot of crime there, but we're not talking about bank robberies or gang fights. The security in the city is that powerful. But we're talking drug lords, crime syndicates, pretty much the mafia. In fact, records indicate that 87 of all the businesses are involved, Bueno Nacho excluded."_

"I knew it!" Ron interrupted, "It's all some diabolical plot against Bueno Nacho!"

"Wade, just continue…"

"_Anyway, the discoveries I made revealed that these guys are extremely brutal in their methods. We're not talking about sending five guys to put someone in cement boots. I'd tell you the details, but you're eating. Believe me, it's really brutal stuff."_

"So where does Ron fit in?"

"_That's the part I'm having a problem with. Most of the violent acts aren't reported to the public at all. That's how much influence these guys have. They have assassins, no doubt about it, but they're trained only to make sure the assignment goes on without any traces. No witnesses, no evidence, no records of it even happening, pretty much erasing the victim from history. Then suddenly, there's an attack with a grenade at Bueno Nacho, a place that doesn't possess any real threat to these groups, and they only go after the heavy competition."_

"So basically we've got someone who decided to make their attack public. Sounds like a method to throw these crime syndicates off," Kim analyzed.

"Still sounds like a Bueno Nacho conspiracy theory to me," Ron pitched in.

"_Ron, whoever initiated the attack was clearly after somebody in that building. To use a grenade like that, they clearly wanted you taken out and obliterated. The assassins of these crime syndicates don't let their moves be seen. This isn't the case. Someone went out on their own and wanted to take you out and wanted the world to know."_

"You don't suppose that whoever this rookie is might be after me too, Wade?" Kim asked with a less concerned look on her face.

"_That's a possibility, but there's not enough known information on who they are or what their motives are."_

"Is that all you know?"

"_That's all I know, and our old friend Nev happened to pitch in half of that information. He moved to Bay City a couple of months ago, some deal with a secret service. He won't give me the details, but he seems to know the city pretty well."_

"Good to hear he's doing well," Kim smiled. "Usually we get help from people and never see them again."

"Kim?" Ron asked with a horrified look on his face, "Arrows don't just fall out of the sky and come right at you, do they?"

"What?"

She quickly turned her head to where Ron's eyes were looking at, and out the window appeared to be an arrow moving at high velocity right at them. Or rather, Ron.

"Move!"

Just as the arrow was about to make contact with the window, Kim dived straight past Ron away from the seats, grabbing his hand and taking him with her. Only milliseconds later the arrow shattered through the window and punctured a trash bin. On the floor, Kim tried to cover any kind of debris that was falling to ensure Ron's safety.

Expectedly, just about everyone inside went into a panic and stormed out of the restaurant, but Kim and Ron kept low and out of sight. In a matter of minutes the place was practically empty, but Kim realized by now that the assassin was probably gone, seeing that it was pointless to look out the window to see if she could get a visual. But she did anyway, raising her head high enough to get a clear view from the window, and no deal.

To her surprise, Ron didn't appear to be shaken at all, getting up before her and helping her up.

"Well, I didn't expect for breakfast to be like that…"

"So, convinced now?"

"Yup, but I won't be surprised if Bueno Nacho is involved in their plans."

Kim groaned, before taking note of the arrow that was stuck in the trash bin door, swinging back and forth. It appeared to have a note tied to it, but the arrowhead had a peculiar look to it.

It wasn't just an arrowhead; attached to the end of it was a syringe with silver mercury in it. The thought of someone trying to poison her Ron with mercury was a bit frightening for Kim, but she let Ron have the letter.

"What's it say?"

Ron just showed her the piece of paper itself. It had one word on it:

_Tower_

"Tower?"

Realizing that she must have dropped the Kimmunicator, Kim frantically went looking for it, finding it exactly where she left it, the table. There was still a communication feed on it.

"Wade? You still there?"

"_Kim! Are you two okay?"_

"Perfect, but confused. Ron gets attacked again, but this time with an arrow with a syringe tied at the end. It also had a note attached. It only says the word 'Tower' on it."

"_A syringe? Filled with what?"_

"Mercury." Kim raised the syringe in her hand to show it.

"_Blood poisoning. That's brutal. But Tower… I might have to ask Nev about this on-"_

"_Already on it,"_ another voice interrupted in the background.

Wade was stunned, _"Nev? How did you break into this signal?"_

"_I am the lord of illusions,"_ he laughed before he split the screen in half to reveal himself,_ "Good to see you again, Kim."_

"Hi Nev. Anything about this tower?"

"_Well, it may or may not be relevant, but…"_

"Spill!" both said in unison.

"_Jinx! Hah! You owe me a soda, Kim!"_

Kim's eyes narrowed, "Nev…"

"_Alrighty, Tower, huh? Tower tower tower… It wasn't some kind of tarot card, was it?"_

Kim shook her head as she put the note up to the screen. It was just an empty piece of paper with the word 'Tower' handwritten on it.

"_Well, there is a tarot card that's called Tower, and it's one of the worst cards you can get on a reading. It pretty much spells tragedy, death, and the like."_

"Isn't there a death card for that, already?" Kim asked with the tiniest bit of knowledge for tarot cards.

"_In the world of tarot, some cards don't have obvious meanings. Actually, I recall that the death card isn't actually tragic, but I didn't study tarot for long. It was just a fad that a small group of girls in middle school started. They experimented with them and gave out free readings, and they wouldn't leave me alone until I told them I wanted one. Heathens…"_

"And if it's not involved with tarot cards?"

"_Your guess is as good as mine. How's Ron?"_

"Bomb Diggity!" Ron shouted behind Kim.

"_Good to hear. Sorry Wade and I couldn't get a trace on the assassin,"_ he brought up.

"No big," Kim calmly assured him, "If they strike twice in less than 24 hours, we're bound to see them again soon. We'll get 'em."

Wade intervened, _"I'll keep my satellites locked for any suspicious activities and keep you all posted."_

"Please and thank you, Wade."

"_You in on this, Nev?"_ Wade asked with an inviting tone.

"_Sure, why not?"_ he asked with an unexcited manner, _"Beats having to clean the lab and look for the music videos you made and watch them for no reason whatsoever because they are 'teh suck'. Hey, check it out, grandma, I get to do something constructive."_

"_I'll just take that as a 'yes',"_ Wade said with little confidence, then cut his communication.

Nev was still on. _"So… I'm guessing Ron's taking you out all day, huh?"_

The couple just shrugged. "Well, we just let things happen. Why?" Kim asked.

"_Just wanted to tell Ron in private to avoid the Sunset Hill Mall because of the Cuddle Buddy store that has a lot in rare stock you won't find in Middleton or most countries and that Kim will probably spend hours and hours and hours there and probably spend a semester of her college tuition on it."_

Kim was in disbelief to what she had just heard. "What?"

Nev didn't realize what he had just done. _"Oh crap! You didn't hear me say that, did you Kim? Um, me no speak English, habla espanol? Oh man…"_

Kim's eyes widened. "Cuddle buddies? I don't remember telling _you_ about my obsession with cuddle buddies!"

"_I think my pet penguin just died… in a… uh… car accident… It uh… fell asleep on him… Gotta go!"_ Nev instantly cut transmission.

Kim slowly turned her head to Ron, who was smiling sheepishly.

"What?"

Her eyes narrowed, "_You_ didn't happen to tell him that, did you, Ron?"

"If I did, I don't remember, but it was an accident."

"Okay, I'll- Hey! Wait a minute!"

Taking no consideration into what had just happened minutes ago, Ron immediately ran out of the restaurant and right into the streets ahead to get as far away from his girlfriend as he could. Kim was quickly in pursuit.

"Ron!"

"Hey, relax! Even a teen hero needs to have her fetishes!" Ron tried to assure her while running.

Kim performed a somersault to get past a taxi, "That's not the point!"

The rest of the day did not go as planned. The two had gone into a chasing game throughout the city, sort of a game of spy versus spy, at least in their minds. Ron's training from Yamanuchi allowed him to scale the buildings as easily as Kim could, except she had the advantage of bringing a lot of her equipment in her pocket. She always brought her grappling hook along with her. Depending on what their plans during the day consisted of, which was nothing on both of their accounts; the game would last from a few minutes to several hours.

The name of the game? Tag.

Ron was running on the roof of a short building, having no idea where Kim had disappeared off to. She had been chasing him for some time, as it appeared the sun was to set soon. Just when all things appeared normal, he felt a finger slide up his back, almost sending him into an explosion of laughter.

"Gotcha."

The time it took Kim to finally catch Ron? Two hours.

"You're getting better at this every time, Ron," she whispered from behind.

"I guess I am, huh?"

Kim's head dropped in ponder. "That reminds me, I totally forgot why I was chasing you in the first place…"

"Beats me." Ron lied to save his hide.

"Hah! I remember now! You owe me a shopping trip!" she beamed with an evil glare in her eyes.

"No! Not again!" Ron whined.

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

Ron let out a thrilled sigh. "Thank you, Wade!"

Kim let out an exasperated one while she pulled out the Kimmunicator. "Go Wade."

"_Where are you guys at?"_

"We're on the roof of… Bob's Pizzeria. Why ask?"

Wade seemed to speak in a disappointed tone. _"I thought I had a lock on the assassin, but it turns out to be you two. Sorry about that."_

Something didn't click for Kim. "Wait, don't your satellites always work on a visual scale? How could you mistake it for us?"

Wade shook his head, _"The city has too much electronic equipment that's disrupting the visual signal, so I have to go for a heat signature. It's not perfect, but I thought it worked."_

"So there's no trouble?"

"_Not at the moment."_

"Goodie."

Wade rolled his eyes, realizing Kim was more excited about going to the cuddle buddy store than an assassination attempt on Ron. That's Kim's confidence in the situation for you.

She quickly turned off the Kimmunicator and locked her eyes on Ron. "You owe me a trip to the Sunset Hill Mall, Ron Stoppable."

Ron groaned. "Aw, do I hafta?"

Kim fluttered her eyes innocently. "You mean you weren't going to get me a present?"

Her boyfriend rolled his eyes, "Now where did you get the impression of-"

Behold the puppy dog pout.

"Okay Kim, just no. No no no no no no no no no! That's not going to work on me anymore! As best friends, yes, but dating? That's too much, Kim. There's no way I'm going to spend five more hours in a Cuddle Buddy store!"

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Ron was standing outside the Cuddle Buddy store, appearing bored and exhausted. It wasn't that bad when Kim went for these things when she was younger, but one thing he noticed when he started dating her was that she secretly built a collection. He knew she had a thing for them, but not to the point of obsession. That kind of thing died down in her junior or sophomore year – so he thought. 

A lot of kids in the store were giving befuddled glares to the redhead girl who was twice their age and acting like she was half. Ron almost hid himself when Kim came out with a bag of at least fifteen of these.

"Two dollars each, Ron!" Kim beamed.

"Nice," he said unexcitedly. His attention was more focused on the little kids who appeared to be petrified of Kim. "Can we go back to the hotel now?"

"Ron, we were there only ten minutes ago."

"Twenty."

"Whatever." Kim put all her new friends into her backpack. "I'm thirsty, Ronnie!"

Ron just put his arms behind his back, "Okay Kim, acting like a little kid who hadn't seen candy in ages was freaking me out. Now you're freaking me out… even more. A lot more."

Kim's innocent and petty expression pretty much dropped. It was weird that Ron, someone who was childish as long as she could remember, was now telling _her_ to act mature. She stuck out her tongue at him and gave him a loud raspberry, not that it countered Ron's point at all.

Kim turned her back to him and started walking off. "Fine, I'll get me a Zero Smoothie!"

Something about that name to Ron, picking up the communication device Nev gave him and pressed a button on it – the only button on it.

Nev didn't even look at the screen, doing some typing._ "I see Kim dragged you to the mall."_

"Hey, uh, Nev, what was the name of that drink that they serve at the airport?"

"_Zero Smoothies – For the people who love the taste of a smoothie with a sweet sweet aftershock that will send your brain to absolute zero. That's the motto, anyway. Supposed to guarantee a killer brain freeze. Why?"_

"Uh oh. I think Kim just went on a suicide mission."

"_She'll be fine. Keep me on, I gotta hear this."_

"Hear what?"

Right on cue, a loud maniacal cry came from the cafeteria and could be heard from outside the mall. It was clearly Kim. Nev and Rufus almost instantly burst in laughter, and eventually Ron gave in, seeing his girlfriend in the distance roll on the floor back and forth holding her head making the most bizarre faces she could make.

It took Nev a few seconds to stop laughing, _"I am so saving that and putting in on a DVD. I could give you a copy."_

Ron still couldn't hold himself. He also found the situation funny in another way. Earlier, Kim sucked down a bottle of hot sauce without realizing it, and now she sucked down an ice-cold smoothie that gave her massive brainfreeze. He was soon to get a grip on himself.

"I'd better help her or else she'll kill me when she gets up."

"_Agreed. Keep it real, buddy."_ Nev cut transmission.

As Ron said he would, he quickly went to Kim's aid and helped her on her feet. He located two empty seats nearby and helped her there.

"You might want to watch that drink, Kim. It's kinda designed to have the effect of Diablo Sauce, only cold."

Some kid nearby overheard her, "Said to be more fierce than the Arctic regions of earth."

"Oh, I'm a believer." Kim grumbled, based on her own experience in the Arctic regions of earth.

Ron shrugged. "Tell you what, I'll take the Zero Smoothie and I'll buy you something else."

"You're sweet, Ron. Any of these places serve regular smoothies?"

"Lemme ask."

Ron left Kim alone for her to get the pain out of her head, leaving Rufus with her just in case. Seconds later he came back with a cherry cream smoothie, a rare favorite for Kim.

Kim's face rose when he put it on the table. "Ron, you rock."

Ron just shrugged his shoulders modestly. "Hey, it's what I do." He then picked up Kim's old Zero Smoothie and sucked it down.

Soon Ron was the one pounding his head on the table and muttering absolute nonsense. Kim couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

The two finally came out of the mall later that night. Kim had held one of Ron's hands in both of hers, excited at the rare collectables she gained. 

"Thanks for taking me, Ron."

Ignoring the original reason he took her, Ron just smiled. "I suppose it's been some time since you let yourself go with those things, huh?"

Kim excitedly nodded.

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

Kim answered. Wade had the assassin tracked.

* * *

The lights of Bay City had already engulfed the place in a neon glow. On top of one of the buildings, a dark shadow sits on the edge, studying a hand knife. Realizing the circumstances brought to them, they stood up and stretched. 

A voice filter made their voice unrecognizable. "You finally found me."

They didn't even need to turn around to realize that Kim and Ron were behind them, in mission gear and packed. They were ready to finish off a fight that hadn't begun. The assassin was wearing a cloak and some kind of ninja mask, but it, like Kim's stealth suit mask, had no openings to reveal any kind of features. Eyes, mouth, head shape; none of it could be seen.

Kim took a few steps forward, then got into a fighting stance. "So you're the one who's been trying to kill Ron."

The dark figure spoke in a monotone voice. "Quite."

"Why?" Ron barked back.

"Your death will mark the beginning of a greater plan…" the assassin spoke with no emotion in their voice.

"What greater plan?" Kim asked. "You think killing him will just make things work?" The thought of her boyfriend being marked for death was a creepy one. She almost appeared weak.

"You fail to see why this must be done, Kim Possible. To ensure that the plan works, all opposition must be destroyed." The assassin pointed at her. "To destroy your enemy, you must find their weakness, exploit it, and use it against them. When it comes to everyone's favorite teen hero, the research isn't necessary. Your weakness is walking right beside you."

Kim realized that the person the assassin spoke of was no other than Ron. "So, that's why you want Ron taken out."

The assassin merely nodded. "It was also an action to lure you here. Now we can kill two birds with one stone."

Moments like these, Kim really wished she could remove the mask and see who it was, as many of her recent villains used mechanical filters to hide their voice. Their choice of words sounded familiar, but it wasn't who she thought it could've been.

This assassin had a lean feminine build. It wasn't the first time.

"Do you wish to unmask me, Kim Possible?" the monotone figure asked. "I dare you to try. Come!"

The assassin quickly stepped backwards, purposely tripping over the edge and then releasing some kind of grappling cord to pull them elsewhere. Without thought, Kim and Ron were immediately in pursuit, equipped with grappling hooks in their gloves, both launching them at the same time and flying in opposite directions. The assassin gave the two a run for their money, as she twisted and turned into various buildings at the last second, throwing Ron off. He didn't appear to be afraid of heights when he was grappling, since Kim told him over and over to think of himself as Spider-Man, and it worked for the most part. Unlike her partner, Kim already knew exactly where the assassin was going to land. If they wanted a fight, they were going to go for a suitable location, probably a heliport. She wasn't familiar with the city, but she already saw it once. Fortunately, Ron kept behind her, following her every move.

The heliport was getting closer, and just as Kim predicted, the assassin stopped in the middle of it. Team Possible landed there shortly afterward. Just when it appeared that Ron made a perfect landing, he forgot to release his grappling hook, tossing him off balance into the concrete floor. Kim immediately helped him up, then both got into stances.

The assassin followed, getting into a jujitsu fighting stance.

Kim and Ron decided to take a careful approach with this one, walking in a circle around the assassin, but in opposite directions. The assassin was already familiar with their plan; walk in opposite directions in a circular motion, and when they're both on the sides, they'll attack. She predicted right. The second she was between the two, they charged. All the girl had to do was head low and swing her leg, tripping Ron, whose momentum sent him flying into Kim. Any misguided spectator would've thought that Ron tackled Kim. The two were quick to react, quickly getting on their feet.

'_Okay,'_ Kim thought, _'That won't work.'_

She looked toward Ron and gave him a slight nod before motioning her head towards the assassin. He got the message.

The two charged at the same time. Ron decided to go in low with a sweep, and Kim went in high with a new technique Ron taught her. It's basically a spinning roundhouse kick that's done in the middle of a back or forward somersault, intended to confuse an opponent. The assassin was familiar with this, unfortunate for Kim, and did a front flip mixed with a kick, flying over Ron's low sweep and kicking straight at Kim in an open area, but it wasn't strong enough to knock her off her feet. If anything, it knocked her _back_ on her feet.

"You bore me," the assassin spoke in a low tone. For someone who sounded like they were dead, she didn't do so bad for defending herself.

Unfortunate for the assassin, Kim and Ron decided to attack just as she finished her line. They both caught her off guard and tried to blind their opponent with a few fists on opposite sides. If the girl tried to defend herself against Kim, she would be bombarded by Ron and vice versa. She soon realized it wasn't difficult to escape this as she went low and rolled in for the escape, leaving Kim and Ron at each other. The two noticed this immediately. Ron caught one of Kim's fists, grabbed the other one and hurled her around in a circle. He threw her straight at the assassin but the girl was able to barely dodge it, attempting to jump out of the way but landed on her side. Kim landed on her feet but her momentum sent her against the gate.

Ron let the assassin get on her feet before he made his move. The assassin noticed this and went to take advantage of this, doing a handspring to get on her feet and then went for a kick for Ron's neck, but he blocked it with his wrist and decided to trip his opponent. Having only one foot to stand on, she easily fell but used her hands to avoid falling on her head. Again she did a handspring to get on her feet, but went after Ron again, this time with a punch. At this point, Ron was used to catching punches in his hands, doing it again, but realizing that Kim was approaching, he decided it was time to finish this.

First, he released his opponent, but followed immediately with an axe kick with his right leg that started high and ended low, striking the girl in the neck and side of the head, forcing her to stagger. With the same foot, he twisted his body and went for a low sweep, but the impact of it sent his opponent high in the air, and just when it appeared she was going to land straight on her head, Kim came out of nowhere and came in with a mid-air dragon kick, a mid-air kick that's powered by your running speed, and the girl went flying into the concrete. She rolled a few times before the gate on the opposite side of the building stopped her. She fell onto her knees, coughing and hacking in an attempt for air.

"Booyah!" the team said at the same time.

Ron immediately groaned and covered his face when hearing this. "Way to kill a moment, Kim!"

She just crossed her arms. "You're not the only guy in the world who says 'Booyah', Ron. And what's wrong with me saying it?"

He pouted and crossed his own arms. "'Booyah' is _my_ word," he whined.

Kim just rolled her eyes, smiling the entire time. The two then had their focus again on their defeated opponent. Kim approached casually, but Ron went in slow.

"Kim, watch out!"

Before Kim realized it, the assassin got on her feet and swung a knife at her. Kim flew back in reflex, but not enough to avoid it. The weapon managed to cut her arm.

"KP!"

Kim backed up to Ron, holding her bleeding arm, "It's nothing. Just a small scratch."

The two raised their heads to see their enemy, now holding a knife in each hand. She was standing and appeared to have more fight in her, but not much.

"You two live up to your name," the girl hissed, "But even if you manage to stop me, this is far from over."

The girl leapt at them with both arms, not anticipating their next attack. When she was in arm's reach, Kim and Ron delivered a palm smash straight in her face and finished it off with a double spinning roundhouse kick, sending her flying back into the gate and the knives out of her hand. One of them flew high into the air, descending back to the ground after the girl hit the gate. The knife was clean but was soon colored red as it sliced the girl's arm in the same place she hit Kim. It wasn't a brutal wound, just enough for it to bleed.

The team got at least a bit of information just by the color of her skin. It was a dark tone, but it could range from several ethnicities; Hispanic, Asian, Indian, Filipino, etc.

Realizing this, the girl realized a part of her cover was blown and it was time to make her leave. Kim and Ron immediately went after her to prevent her from escaping, but the girl got up and went in for a final move that would ensure it. Seeing that Kim and Ron were running side by side, she ran in-between them, grabbing Ron's arm from behind and throwing him straight at Kim. She wasn't able to avoid it. The second the two hit the ground, the girl threw a smoke bomb at them, blinding them but also affecting their breathing. By the time they got up and escaped the smoke, the girl was gone.

"Damn it!" Kim yelled as she slammed her foot into the ground.

Ron didn't like it when Kim cursed, something she did often when a bad guy got away.

"Kim, please don't. Not now. So the bad guy got away, we'll get them," he calmly tried to assure her.

Kim poked at her wound a few times, wincing each time she felt the pain. Before she was about to poke it the seventh time, Ron gently grabbed her arm.

"Let me see that."

He grabbed a bandage from his utility belt and wrapped it tightly around the wound.

"Thanks, Ron. Sorry I got like that, it's just that I thought we were close to having her, and now that we've been in battle, she'll probably be more precise when she tries to get you."

"KP, you worry about me too much. It's okay."

"Is it, Ron? You know if anything ever happened to you I'd never forgive myself for not being able to stop it."

"Kim, chill, alright? It's not like I'm doing this alone. You're the one who's got a cut on her arm, not me."

Kim sighed, "I suppose you're right." Ever since the two started dating, well, even before, Kim would worry when Ron got in trouble or was kidnapped, but those feelings amplified since Prom.

Ron helped her back on her feet, then inspected the area for clues. Distracted by their conversation, Kim had already forgotten why the assassin bailed, but the second she saw the knife with the assassin's blood on it, she pulled it from the concrete with her uninjured arm. Ron recovered the one with Kim's blood on it just in case, and she pulled out her Kimmunicator.

"Wade? When was the last time you performed a blood/DNA test?"

"_A couple of months ago, I believe. Lemme guess, you've got a sample from the assassin?"_

Kim nodded and held the Kimmunicator toward the knife. It scanned the crimson tip for five seconds before turning off.

"_You guys should get some sleep. Seeing that you injured your culprit, they'll probably go into hiding for a day to heal up and plan their next attack. I should have an identity confirmed in the morning."_

"Thanks, Wade."

"_G'night you two."_

"G'night!"

* * *

The two were on the elevator of the same building, making their way down to the 15th floor. There was a train station there that would lead them to the hotel. As the elevator made its descent, the two had a small conversation. 

"How's your arm?"

"Feels like the bleeding's stopped, and it only hurts when you touch it. I'm still a little frustrated, that's all."

"KP, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Ron."

"You've been frustrated on our missions a lot more often, especially when I'm involved. How… when did this happen?"

Kim shrugged. "I don't know. I never really put a lot of thought into it."

Ron didn't say anything. He could remember that before they went out, Kim was usually cool and calm on her missions. She would sometimes lose her temper when taking on Shego and when Bonnie was in her presence, but that was months ago when the two were in high school and before Shego and Drakken went to prison.

Kim broke the silence. "I guess when I get worried I get frustrated. I really thought we were going to get her right there and then." Ron actually had no idea how crazy Kim went when he went to Bay City alone and didn't leave a trace for Wade or her to get in on. "Is it that bad?"

"When you curse, it kinda worries me."

Kim's eyes spelt guilt. "Sorry that I worry you, Ron." She was sincere in her tone.

Ron thought to himself more. Was this what Kim meant by 'growing up' before? Did it involve everyone on the planet changing for the better or worse? Sure, there were people who needed to change in life because they didn't take life seriously in high school or had no future planned. No one wants to be completely unsuccessful, so there are those who do change themselves to try to become better people. Some succeed, but most fail as old habits die hard. If Ron had tried to change himself, he would be part of the latter, but he had no intention of changing himself. He didn't realize that he was changing, but he was. He grew to be more mature in missions, his buffoonery was low, and his fighting abilities were rivaling Kim's, much more when his Mystical Monkey Powers kicked in, but that only occurred when he desperately needed it to.

Those were on missions, however. As a person, sometimes he would be completely serious when the situation called for it, but that was it. He would stand up for himself and Kim when he needed to, but he was the same goofball Kim had known for years.

Kim on the other hand was not the same person she was in high school. She wasn't a cheerleader, she wasn't part of the honor roll any longer, she didn't help sports activities or the student council. School was over. Such things as the food chain, popularity, Bonnie, and other relevant high school pressures were gone, over, kaput, done. Her high school stress no longer affected her or stressed her any. Some could argue that Ron played a large role in this, and perhaps it was both him and the end of high school that allowed for this to happen. She would never admit it, but a huge part of Kim felt empty now that high school was over. Her extracurricular activities got her into a good college close to Middleton, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to pursue a career in cheerleading since her primary focus was science. She also wasn't sure where to achieve in that field as well. Astronomy? Chemistry? She had to think deeper than that.

One thing that didn't change in her was her will to help people. Perhaps this was what she wanted to do. Maybe she wanted to find cures for diseases, use technology to help people or replace lost organs or limbs.

Kim wouldn't admit it, but inside she felt a bit lost. The only things that kept her alive was that she was the girl who could do anything and save the world, and Ron was always there for her no matter what. She became a better person with him around, letting go of labels and images that high school was infested with, and she decided to let her personality fly. There was no need to act a specific way to maintain an image in high school. There was no point; there was no more high school.

Even the world famous Kim Possible had her own insecurities. But it wasn't enough to keep her chained to the ground. Thanks to Ron, she had developed her own personality much further, with a lot of influence from him unintended. He really did help fill out that large hole inside of her.

But her attitude on missions became more fierce over the months. Sometimes she grew angry and wouldn't allow the villain any mercy in combat. Sometimes she grew angry and would threaten the villains in ways that would make them crawl under their bed at night. It was always directed at the enemy, though. Never Ron nor her family or friends.

Ever since she knocked Shego into the communications tower at Bueno Nacho HQ, she got a new thrill for battle in her missions. But often Ron's health and life would be at risk, and that only made things worse. Ron wasn't without his angry moments, either. Whenever Kim, Rufus or Bueno Nacho was in danger, he would become someone different.

One way to look at it was that Kim and Ron were becoming like each other in a lot of ways. Ron was becoming more like Kim on missions, and Kim was becoming more like Ron in everyday life.

The elevator had come to a stop on the 15th floor. Ron assisted Kim onto the train. There were a lot of people that noticed Kim was wounded, so they got out of the way. There were two seats available in the middle, where the two sat.

Ron put one arm around her and the other on a nearby bar. "Careful, it's a bit shaky when it starts up."

Kim yawned as she sat down and leaned her head on Ron's shoulder, "I'll be fine."

* * *

The two were long asleep in the hotel room, sleeping in the same bed again. 

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

Both groaned, refusing to wake up. Kim was able to get a glimpse of the clock: 12:48 AM.

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

Kim reluctantly grabbed the Kimmunicator from the shelf where the phone and clock were.

"Wade, do you know what time it is?"

"_It's almost three by my time. Near one on yours."_

"What are you doing up this late?" Kim asked weakly.

"_I've ID'ed the assassin, but I needed to check it over and over again."_

"Kim?" Ron asked from beside her. "What's the matter?"

"Wade says he's got an ID of our assassin."

"Can't it wait until morning?"

Wade shook his head on the screen_. "You're not going to like this when you see it Ron, but believe me, I've checked over ten times."_

"Show us."

On a picture appeared the assassin's identity. Both Kim and Ron were almost instantly awakened when they realized who it was.

"That can't be…"

"YORI?"


	6. 05: Jurisdiction

_Thanks for the kind reviews, everyone! Sorry to do one chapter from now on, but I uploaded the prologue and the first four chapters because I figured it'd end on a good note. Good for the beginning of the story, but I've ran and now I'm exhausted. But I have more of the story done (beginning Ch 11), but I want to make sure it's free of errors as much as possible before I upload it. It's not because I'm fast, it's because I thought it was finally time to upload some of the story.  
_

_Now that KP and Ron are back together and found out Yori's the one trying to kill Ron, we go deeper into the plot. Again, I might have to bump the rating later on in the story. If the later part of this chapter sickens you enough, you haven't seen anything yet._

_Also, I pay homage to a game-turned-anime series in this chapter. If you can pick it up, you rock.  
_

_Enjoy!_**  
**

**Chapter 5: Jurisdiction  
**

**

* * *

**

Ron practically fell off the bed when he realized this, and Kim was no less shocked than he was. The Japanese girl from Yamanuchi, the same one who crushed on Ron, the same one who made Kim jealous was the same one who tried to kill Ron numerous times, now the same one the two fought earlier.

"That's just… no… but…" Ron was stuttering in disbelief.

"_I've done the test over and over and over, but I get the same result. I'm sorry you guys, but Yori's our assassin."_

Kim couldn't form any words in her mind. There was a long uncomfortable silence in the room for about fifteen minutes before Ron decided to break it. He stood up from the bed.

"I'll have to confront her myself."

Kim almost rose from the bed, "Ron? But Yori's…"

"That wasn't Yori, Kim. It was, but it wasn't."

Kim and Wade kept silent, curious as to what he meant.

"When she grabbed me by my arm before she escaped, I knew there was something familiar about that grip. Definitely Yori's. But that wasn't her fighting style. She's stronger than that, I know it. I've sparred with her before when I was a temporary exchange student and I've seen her fight a few times. She had the stance, but not the style."

"_You're sure of this, Ron?"_ Wade asked with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"Definitely."

"So how are you going to…?" Kim trailed off.

"I don't know, but I'm going to have to take her on my own. I don't know when or where." Ron let out a frustrated sigh before he collapsed on the bed.

Kim wrapped an arm around him in an effort to cheer him up. "Not tonight, Ron."

"_You two should rest. Sorry I woke you two up, but I felt it was important."_

"Thanks, Wade." Ron sounded tired and bitter.

Kim turned the Kimmunicator off. "I'm sorry, Ron. You don't suppose…?"

"What?"

"Never mind… I can't think." Kim's realized that Yori never really knew that she and Ron were together. Could this have been some kind of response? Find out your crush is taken and become a ninja assassin? She was well aware that some ninjas live the lives of mercenaries or assassins. Yori could have become one, but she wouldn't sacrifice her feelings for Ron because of her duties, would she?

Ron just shook his head frustratingly. "I'll need to sleep on this."

"I'm sure there's an explanation to this, Ron."

Ron just laid on the bed staring out the window. "I'm sure there is, too."

Before long it appeared that Kim was already asleep, but Ron couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he tried. He got off the bed again, slowly and quietly making his way toward the bathroom with a backpack. It was the backpack with all his mission gear in it, excluding his naked mole rat who was sleeping on the other bed. He rinsed his face a couple of times to get himself together. Minutes passed before the shirt was on, the pants were tightened, and the utility belt pockets were full. He was ready to go.

It was already 1:26 AM when he crept out of the room. Kim's eyes were still closed and was completely alone in bed.

* * *

Yori had been sitting on top of a small and dark building, wrapping a bandage around her wound. She still wore her ninja garb and hid her identity under her mask. 

Bay City was no less quiet in the early hours of morning than it was late at night. The sounds of cars, the train that ran through town, planes arriving and departing, police sirens and more still provided the soundtrack for the city.

There was one noise however that took Yori by surprise. Footsteps. She quickly ceased applying her bandage and rose up to see who was behind her.

Ron.

Yori spoke in an emotionless tone, "How did you find me?" It almost didn't sound like a question.

Ron let out a small chuckle. "Oh, I was around. I just picked up a heavy scent of a flower Sensei introduced to me at Yamanuchi. It reminded me of someone I knew."

Every step Ron took toward her, she took a step back, and without realizing it, she tripped over the edge. This time it wasn't intentional, but Ron grabbed Yori's hand before she fell.

"That's not like the Yori I know. She's not careless."

Yori quickly swung the other arm at Ron, but he ducked it. This put Yori in a bad position as her back now faced him, and he took the advantage by grabbing her other hand and pressed it against her back, mildly twisting her wrists in the process.

"That's not you in there…"

He didn't have the tightest grip on her, so she was able to escape by twisting herself, delivering a hard spinning kick to Ron. He managed to block it by crossing his arms in front of his face, but the impact sent him skidding back a few feet, perfect for another escape.

Ron was sent on another chase after the girl, who quickly leapt onto a building that was about twenty stories higher than the one they were on. Ron had his grappling hooks equipped in his gloves, and he was off in pursuit like Tarzan in the future. By the time he reached the building Yori was on, she was already two buildings away. If he continued at the rate he was going, he was going to lose her. He decided to shoot his next hook toward the farthest building he could see. When the wire retracted, he flew at the building much faster than he anticipated, almost crashing straight into Yori, who was now traveling throughout the city with her own grappling hooks instead of her usual chains. The second Ron passed her, he released himself from the cord and shot a couple more hooks onto the nearby buildings to keep himself up with her. He was behind again. Eventually, Yori slowed down and tried to kick Ron off the cord, not realizing that his glove was connected to it.

The two engaged into an aerial dogfight, exchanging blows when they were near each other, going back and forth between the buildings. Unfortunately for Ron, he found himself tangled in his cord more often than he hoped he would. This would allow Yori to get away, but he got out of it just before she was out of visual range. To his surprise, it wasn't long before he was right next to her again. This time, he decided to use his head as he was next to Yori, pulling out the knife that cut Yori against her. With a swift swipe, he sliced her cord, sending her falling onto the rooftop of another building.

Yori managed to roll safely onto it, but her own momentum sent her rolling uncontrollably a few times before crashing into the small stairway building. Ron arrived shortly after, but he got his cord caught in the antennae above the stairway. He was right above Yori, and not allowing for another escape, he sliced his cord with the knife, completely forgetting that he was bound to fall.

The ninja girl rose her head after opening her eyes again, the first thing she saw was someone falling right on her. It was too late to react.

_**BAM**_

Yori softened the fall for Ron. After a few seconds he was able to roll off and get onto his knees. He turned around to see how Yori was doing.

She wasn't moving.

Ron got onto his feet and went to inspect the masked girl. She was completely slumped onto the ground, face-first, so he decided to pick her up and lean her back toward the stairway building. Reluctantly, he pulled off her mask.

It was just as Wade said. It was the same face of the girl in Japan. The same hair, the same face shape, everything. But she also had obvious differences. First, she wore a lot of makeup; her eyes were colored with a dark blue sparkling color, her eyelashes were dark, and she had earrings.

Her eyes then opened.

Ron quickly leapt away as he noticed this, able to avoid an attack with spinning knifes as she got up. Yori still had no emotion on her face, but Ron had a more concerned look, and with reason. Now that Yori's eyes were open, he knew what was wrong.

Yori's eyes were glowing in a blue color. It was clearly mind control.

"Now that you know who I am, Stoppable…" Yori spoke with a deep voice, "I'm not going to allow you to leave here alive."

Ron didn't appear intimidated, letting out an unexpected huge belch mixed with a yawn. "Too bad I don't get paid to hear that every day, or I'd be one rich lil' boy...again."

Yori then jumped back onto the top of the small building behind her, and then jumped toward a building that was further away and much taller. Ron didn't appear to be concerned that Yori was making another escape, even though she missed the roof by thirty stories, but was running up the building by foot. He just sat back and watched, then shot his grappling cord at the top of the building. The two landed on the roof at the same time.

Aware of the threat Ron posed, Yori pulled out two Kitana swords. She got into a fighting stance, as did Ron, but the confidence in his face seemed to show he had something planned.

"Any last words, Stoppable?"

Ron let out what almost sounded like an evil laugh. "Whatever's controlling your mind isn't doing a good job of it. If you really wanted to scare me, you'd keep the traits I know you for."

"Explain…" Yori coldly demanded.

Ron started walking around, "Tell you what. You take me down and I tell you." He didn't realize that if she did, he wouldn't be able to.

Yori didn't answer but decided to charge at him instead. Ron just kept still the entire time as she sprinted towards him with both of her swords in hand. Just when she was close enough, she raised both swords above her and sent them down at him. The second one of the blades was about to give Ron a split end, he moved to the side and jammed his wrist into the back of her neck.

She hit the concrete faster than her swords did.

She was completely out this time. Ron approached her with his hands in his pockets, coolly and confidently. Yori had fallen straight on her face, and the first thing Ron noticed other than a bloody nose, was that her earrings had shattered. More interesting was that small electrical sparks were coming out of them. Was this the mind control device that Ron was looking for? Perhaps. He carefully inspected all the areas of her head, face, neck, and upper shoulders. No other mind control devices he was familiar with were visible.

A lot of questions ran through his head as he checked her head and her pulse. Someone was out to get him and decided to use Yori as their tool. The obvious questions were who, why, and how. Ron knew that Yori was a lot more stronger and skilled than the fight she had put up, and he wondered who managed to find her, knock her out, and place the mind control devices on her. This could have been at least one of many scenarios. What if she was tricked into buying earrings with the mind control device in them? What if someone managed to capture her and send her out after him? Clearly Ron wasn't the only one with this train of thought.

"I see you've got this handled…" a familiar nearby voice spoke.

Ron barely lifted his head. "Oh, hey KP. Sorry I snuck out on you."

Kim jumped off the edge, performed her usual few flips, and landed right next to Ron. "No big. I had my eyes closed but never really fell asleep. I figured you were up to some trouble."

Ron continued to inspect Yori, who now had a sad look on her face. "She's finally showing some kind of emotion…"

Kim looked at the small pieces of metal in his hand. "So, it was mind control. How did you know?"

"Too many things. One, Yori calls me 'Stoppable-san,' not just 'Stoppable'. Second, she doesn't wear that much makeup. Third, the Yori I know is a tough fighter who is fully aware of her surroundings and can see an opponent's every action a mile away. She's also a completely defensive fighter. She only goes on the offense when needed. Fourth, she didn't talk about things of honor or that stuff."

"Sounds like you know her quite well, Ron," Kim spoke with her usual slightly irritated tone.

Ron scoffed, "Please, Kim. You make it sound like I know you less. I'm fully aware of your many many fighting styles, your approach and strategy, the color of your eyes and how you talk, every weapon you use and how you use it, and all that stuff."

Kim didn't intend for that kind of reaction, but she decided to test him anyway. "Okay, what was I wearing today?"

Ron quickly answered, "Your pajamas and obviously your mission gear."

It was early in the morning, a different day, after all.

"Now if you're talking about yesterday, you were wearing a pink shirt with white shorts, letting out your hair as always, wearing a hint of strawberry perfume, your usual socks and shoes, purple makeup on the eyes, and if I didn't know any better, a little bit of eyeliner."

Kim was speechless.

"Score five for Ron!" he proudly grinned as he turned back to Yori, "You probably wanna call Wade on this."

Kim sighed and pulled out her Kimmunicator. It took Wade a few seconds to pull his head from the keyboard.

Wade rubbed his face and eyes. _"And you guys say I don't get any sleep… So what's up?"_

"We've got her. It was definitely mind control." Ron showed the remains of the earrings to the screen, and Wade took the moment to scan it thoroughly.

"_Earrings that relay a signal to the brain that allows for mind control… I didn't think these were still made…"_

"Still made?"

Wade explained. _"Well, last time I heard about something like this, it never surpassed experimental and prototype stages. The most it could do was calm someone who had anger problems, but even _that_ didn't work. It's great for communication, however, but I doubt Yori would just blindly obey commands to kill Ron."_

"Obviously someone's mastered this." Kim inspected. "So Yori's not our prime target…"

"_Pretty much. Someone's pulling the strings, but who?"_

Ron couldn't help but be affected by the sad look in his friend's eyes. "Why Yori?"

"_As much as I'd hate to say it, Ron, if someone was sent to kill you, Yori or Kim would be best qualified because of your attachment to both. The way I see it, they should have gone after Kim first, and the reason they didn't was either because they didn't want to make it obvious since you know when the other is under mind control, or because they also have something in store for Kim. They may have realized you're one of Kim's weaknesses."_

Ron let out a frustrated groan. "So much for vacation. Get away from _everything_, almost get blown up by a grenade and find out you're in some assassination plot. What's next? Nuclear threat? Giant military weapon gets released?"

He had almost forgotten that Kim was nearby, glaring at him the whole time.

"No offense, KP, but you gotta admit that you need to get away from everything once in a while."

"Thanks for the reassurance, Ron." Kim sarcastically remarked. It was rather nice to hear your boyfriend vent about getting away from everything, especially when you're included on the list. Perhaps not what Ron intended, but Kim thought otherwise.

"Wade, can you scan her vitals?"

"_Sure."_

Kim tossed Ron the Kimmunicator. He allowed the device to scan various parts of Yori's body, such as her head, neck, chest, and wrists.

"_Hmm… Other than the slight cut on her arm, her body functions seem to be coming along normally. Heartbeat is fine. The only problem is her head. From the pictures I got it looks like she's suffered a heavy concussion, probably due to the way you took her out and the earrings abruptly being destroyed. That's one of the reasons the technology was abandoned, because of too many side effects. It's not fatal or isn't going to be mandatory, but I think she'll be out of it for some time."_

"How long?"

"_My guess? 24 hours."_

Kim reminisced about their own mind-control mishaps. "How come that never happened to us?"

"_This is different, Kim. Before, devices were placed directly on your skin. It's probably the best kind of mind control, or so I thought. Those earrings Yori was wearing were releasing a signal that controlled her mind, and possibly receiving a signal to tell her what to do, but once they were destroyed it, her brain must have been affected."_

"Signal… Any traces?" Ron asked.

Wade shook his head. _"No. If there was a signal going out or coming in, it instantly stopped when it the earrings were destroyed. When I try to see where the signal originated from, I get what appears to be corrupted computer data from 37 locations. Someone clearly anticipated this. It'll take me some time, and I may need a second opinion on this…"_

"So what should we do with Yori?" Kim asked, looking at the unconscious Japanese girl.

"_She'll need rest. She's probably not going to feel well when she wakes up. My guess is that you'll need to lay her on her back, on a bed perhaps. Sorry to interrupt whatever alone time you two had, and I hope you two weren't doing the tango in there, but it looks like you'll have a temporary visitor staying in your hotel room."_

"You think she'll be okay, Wade?" Ron was obviously concerned for his old crush.

"_Physically, definitely. Mentally? That depends on her response to seeing you two. I'm thinking she was used as a temporary tool in some bigger plan. That's what we need to figure out right now. In the meantime, keep your eyes on her."_

Both Kim and Ron acknowledged, putting away the Kimmunicator. He picked up Yori's body and carried her over his back, making it look easy. He walked past Kim toward the edge, and when he was about to shoot his grappling cord, he noticed Kim had an uneasy look on her face, even though his back was facing her.

"What's the matter, KP?"

"Nothing."

Ron let out an exasperated sigh. "Kim, how long is it going to be before you're honest with yourself?"

Kim didn't respond for a few seconds. "What you said earlier…"

Ron already figured it out, not turning around. "Kim, that's not what I meant at all. But even so, are you telling me that you haven't had that little wish to get away from everything? It's not like I was planning to stay here forever, or that I was going to abandon my name, identity and life and leave you behind. I couldn't do that."

Kim sighed. "You're right. You're absolutely right, Ron."

"Your tone is anything but convincing." Ron had his rare moments of being extremely serious about things, but not as much as he had been recently. Kim hadn't even realized it until now.

Better now to pop the question about it. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"You weren't like this before, I mean… with this kind of talk." Kim realized she was stuttering. "You seem serious more often." There was obvious discomfort in her voice.

"I take our relationship seriously, KP…"

Kim sighed. Indeed, Ron _had_ become a lot more brave and serious ever since Prom night, but sometimes he was overconfident, too overconfident and that would often bother Kim. It was nice to see this side of him the first time, but it was frustrating when something was bothering her and Ron wanted an answer. Kim wasn't a good liar, and while she could fool anyone in high school about her real feelings toward something, she couldn't fool Ron. Not that she liked to hide things or lie to Ron, but when those moments came where she felt she needed to, he saw past everything.

Ron broke the silence. "… and I guess some of it comes from Sensei's guidance."

Kim crossed her arms. "Your training, huh? I guess it's no surprise. Now that I think about it, can I ask you another question?"

"I suppose."

"Did you see Yori either time you went to Japan after the Prom?"

"Why ask?"

"Curious, that's all."

Ron finally turned around to look at Kim's eyes. "No, she wasn't there the first time around. Sensei told me the first time she was running some kind of errand, and the second time…"

Kim gave him a few seconds to remember.

"He told me she was 'traveling'. So no, she wasn't there that time... You don't suppose during that time she was captured?"

"Let me think, you came back from your training two weeks after graduation… No… if she was under mind control then, she would've started attacking us long before now… Unless whoever captured her needed her to strike at a specific moment…" Kim couldn't figure it out. There were too many scenarios possible.

Ron yawned. "We should probably get going, unless you want to carry the two of us with you."

Kim shook her head. "I am not going to let you sleep on my shoulders again, Ron, not with how much my shirt was drenched in your drool."

Ron chuckled. "But we're still even on that. Remember when the Vamp Legion knocked you out and I had to carry you home on my shoulders? My shirt was soaked."

Kim narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, Ron. I remember. We walk into the seized weapons disposal facility in Australia, and the very second I put my foot down, I find a tranquilizer dart in my butt. I'm still surprised you managed to take all five of them out without being tranquilized yourself."

Ron smirked. "But that doesn't compare to when you took out the Dead Blazes in Brazil, Kim. Not often you can throw a grenade into the gun barrels of two tanks."

Kim modestly smiled, as if forgetting her earlier grief. "Oh, Ron, it was no big. It's not like I'm the only one capable of it."

Ron let out another huge yawn. "I think we'd better head back."

Kim nodded. "Can you carry her?"

"She feels a bit heavier than you, but I think I can manage."

Kim shot her hook to the top of a nearby building. Ron followed.

* * *

As the two flew through the city, another figure sat on the edge of a high building, looking at all of them through hi-tech binoculars that showed their identities, profiles, and distance, all in detail. 

"I've finally found you…"

The cloak-covered figure put away their binoculars and pulled out a gun. They only inspected it and made sure the clip was full.

"Soon…"

* * *

Both Kim and Ron landed on the balcony of their hotel room. Kim had actually left Rufus behind, who was woken by the presence of the three. He tried to open the door, but he was far too tired and small to open it. At least there was no lock on it, so the two let themselves in easily. Rufus went back to sleep on one side of the open bed, but Ron carefully laid Yori out next to him. While Ron handled that, Kim closed the door and walked past their bed. Since Ron's attention was on Yori, Kim quickly took off her mission clothes, revealing that she had been wearing her pajamas the whole time under them. She leapt onto the bed and held her pillow tightly. If there was one thing she liked about the hotel room, it was that the bed mattress was extremely, extremely soft. A few seconds later, Ron hopped onto the bed in his own pajamas. 

When Ron was asleep, Kim pulled out her Pandaroo from under the blanket and held him tightly. Pandaroo's absence was the only reason she couldn't sleep earlier.

* * *

The next morning… late morning, Ron was the first to awaken, thanks to Kim's loud snoring. Add that to the list of embarrassing things Kim is capable of. He wasn't surprised that he found Pandaroo next to her, but the thought of her snoring loudly was pretty funny. 

He slowly got out of bed to do his routine stretches, trying not to wake anybody else up. After he was done, he made sure Rufus was sleeping well, took a quick gaze at Kim again before turning his attention to Yori.

The last time he had seen her was when Sensei was kidnapped by DNAmy. It was only about five months ago, two before he and Kim started dating, but to Ron it felt like he hadn't heard from her in forever. One of the bad things when a ninja girl is from a foreign country, he thought, was that they weren't always willing to share their contacts. No digits, no e-mail, no address, nothing. Sure, Yori was a ninja, but it wouldn't hurt to say hi every now and then. Or perhaps it would.

The last thing he saw was her leaving in a helicopter with Sensei, waving. Kim had only told him a few seconds ago that Yori liked him. He never even saw it, and now she was gone. Ron was in sort of a dilemma when he got home that night. First, he found out the pretty Japanese girl liked him, and he liked her back, no questions asked. Then there was the Kim factor. This was the first time Kim seemed to show some kind of jealousy towards another girl. But why would your best friend be jealous? Did Kim still have some feelings after the Moodulator incident? Was it some kind of effect? Oh, if only Ron knew anything about girls, and Kim was no less confusing than the others. But why Yori? Just a couple of weeks ago they had that conversation about Ron bringing a date to his relative's wedding. It never crossed Ron or Kim's mind that she could 'pretend' to be a date, but the idea of the whole date thing threw them off. Awkweird. Now Kim gets jealous of Yori. Sure, when he had a thing for Zita and Tara, she didn't have any objections. Then again, those crushes happened long before the Moodulator incident. The day after he found out Tara used to like him and started dating Mankey was the day he got kissed on the lips the first time… by Kim, and she never heard of Yori at the time.

Ron still felt iffy about having feelings for Kim when the search for Sensei came to and end and Yori left. He knew she shared his feelings and he considered choosing her over Kim, still fearing that things would take a turn for the worse with his longtime best friend. He hoped that Yori would contact him or something so he could talk about it, and he actually managed to get the courage to ask her out. The only problem was that he had no idea how to contact her.

A month after the incident, Kim got a hit from the Nakasumi Toy Company in Tokyo. Perfect, Ron thought, a trip to Japan and that way he could find her. Unfortunately, there was no time to go to Yamanuchi thanks to more homework. He was thinking that perhaps when he saw Yori the two could hit it off.

Instead, he hit it off with Kim four weeks later, and things have been steady since.

That was a long time ago, though. He and Kim had been steady for three months.

Ron knew that Yori was going to find out about his relationship with Kim. It was inevitable. But how would she react? To have feelings for someone and see that they're already taken? Ron was all too familiar with the concept. It takes some pretty boy who can do anything to get Kim's attention, and Ron completely realizes how he feels for her, but she still has feelings for the pretty boy instead.

But in this triangle, at least no one's a syntho-drone working for your arch nemesis. Yori may have feelings for Ron, but he has feelings for a girl he's known all his life. Still, would that make Yori's feelings for him cease or increase?

It was troubling to think about, and now probably wasn't the best time to think about it. Kim would be up soon, and while she may also have concern for Yori, she probably wouldn't want to hear Ron talk about what could develop into a triangle. Would Yori accept things as they are or try to change it? It all depended on her own feelings and her respect for Ron's wishes.

A lot of things had changed since Prom night. Maybe Yori had changed, too…

"How's she doing?"

Ron was used to Kim sneaking up on him. "Not bad." He had actually forgotten to inspect her health, focused more on the situation if Yori recovered well. The fact that someone was using her to kill him also slipped his mind.

That's where Kim's mind was instead. Whoever was behind this, they had done their homework. But she couldn't decide who the card dealer was after. Did they want Ron dead because of who he is, or was it because they knew that if Ron was taken out of the picture, Kim wouldn't have the drive to move on or fight anymore? Perhaps it was one, perhaps it was both.

It was late in the morning, a bit after 11, so she figured it was a good idea to call Wade.

"_Hey Kim. How's Yori?"_

She mimicked Ron. "Not bad."

"_I asked Nev about the earrings this morning."_

"And?"

Nev's voice broke in._ "Nanotechnology. Surprise."_

"Nanotechnology?" The term was all too familiar with Kim. The exploding zit on her nose two years ago, among one other thing she currently wasn't aware of.

"_Just as Wade said, the earrings Yori was wearing were transmitting some kind of signal to her brain. Filled with nanos."_

"But how can a computer signal cause mind control?" Kim asked. "I understand if the device was on the skin since it makes contact with the blood and nervous system, which leads directly to your brain, but _just_ a signal?"

"_That part puzzles me as well. I understand that it could be used as a communications signal that only Yori could hear, but I don't see how the signal affected her brain. If there were nanomachines in her bloodstream then that would be a reason, but all of Wade's scans turned out negative in that area. Only other reasons I could see are if she was brainwashed or she has a thick metal plate in her head."_

"Wait a minute…" Ron broke in. He quickly looked for the little red hairpiece that Yori always wore. He located it deep under her hair, and he took it off. "What about something like this?"

Kim also took a look at it. It was painted red, but it was made out of metal on the inside.

"_Wow, I don't know how I missed that. Yep, if you've got metal _on_ the head, it's just as good as any other mind control device. Since the human body has electrical impulses, it would react to metal on the head, and if you were to develop the right kind of frequency in the signal, which is much more easier said than done, which would be amplified by the metal headpiece, it may actually work. Well, I guess it did."_

"_What kind of frequencies are we talking about, Nev?"_

"_A mix of thermal, sound, electronic, radio, light, and the like. There's too many to list. Combine them properly, and you've got a puppet. But why use such an old and difficult technique? Henchco's basically got this kind of stuff for sale at good prices. Maybe I should get some for those girls who stalk me at the airport..."_

Everyone was glaring at him. The word Henchco.

_"What? They use some of the latest technologies on their stuff, but I only use it for parts. Seriously!"  
_

"Seriously?" Kim, Ron, Rufus and Wade asked at once.

_"Seriously."_

Bad memories on a Friday night for Kim."Never mind that, Nev. How many people have used this technique?"

Wade answered. _"Only one by my records. A scientist in her mid-thirties who used brainwashing to create the ultimate human weapon. She had written a paper on martial artists and their emotions, and if one were able to cease any and all emotions from them, they become much more powerful than any of the worlds top martial artists, becoming nothing more than a weapon. The earrings were used for mind control, as well as a communications relay from her to make sure the subject was under control. When the subject's brother was able to break the earrings in a final duel, she exploded into a fury of uncontrollable rage, but it lasted for several minutes before she lost consciousness. The scientist's work was heavily criticized as her subject was an innocent teenage girl who had not volunteered for such work. Kidnapping. But the scientist was killed two months later in a flaming building. It dates back to 1996."_

"She?" Ron asked.

"_We've got a picture, but the name has been deleted on all records, and since the information's nearly a decade old, it's impossible to recover it. Looks like they wanted to erase her existence."_

"_I took a crack at it, too._" Nev intervened. _"No deal. Anyhow, because of the abrupt destruction of the device, much like Wade explained, Yori was completely knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion. It's like pulling out a memory card out of its socket when its in use; Bad effects. Either the two of you are going to want to keep an eye on her, or leave someone to watch her the whole day. You two would also be wise to keep your distance when she recovers. Because this is an old technique, sometimes the victim goes into a stage of uncontrollable rage. It's temporary, but sometimes the time it takes for it to wear off can be more than enough for her to make a move. Make sure all weapons she carries are nowhere nearby."_

"So…" Ron paused. "If Yori wakes up, she's completely free of the mind control, other than that side effect you just mentioned. She'll be okay?"

The two geeks nodded with their arms crossed.

"Good. But wait a second, you guys said that if you removed a fighter's emotions from them, they become stronger?"

Wade did some typing on his end. "_According to the written report by our mad scientist, compassion is one of the things that makes a martial artist a… well, martial artist. You're probably aware that they're trained not to kill, but to show mercy and only fight when needed; to use their abilities for good. But remove any and all judgment from them, and they practically become a weapon."_

Ron cut Wade off. "So why was Yori weaker? She didn't give much of a fight."

"_My guess?"_ Nev answered. _"She wasn't brainwashed. If she were, she may have been much more of a brutal opponent. In the scientist's experiment, she was only able to achieve full mind control after brainwashing her subject. That's how she 'removed' the girl's emotions, not by the mind control but the brainwashing."_

"Okay…" Kim understood everything. "Okay, let's see how this all works… Send an assassin after Ron, who turns out to be a ninja girl from a ninja academy, and she's put under mind control… But assassins only work in silence and never reveal their motives… unless instructed… and that would only happen if…"

"_You don't suppose this was kind of diversionary tactic_?" Wade asked.

Kim nodded. "One that didn't depend on us staying alive. Something else is at work, and whoever's behind this used Yori to make us think that an assassin after Ron was the only problem…"

Ron tried to get in Kim's head. "So this isn't just about me anymore, is it?"

"Probably not. And before you say anything, it's not a plot to destroy Bueno Nacho."

Ron laid back with his arms crossed behind his head. "I dunno, KP. Their new advertisement tactics and combo meals are going to make for a fierce competition, and guess who thought of them?"

Kim just rolled her eyes. "Your creativity astonishes me. So is that all the info you and Nev dug up on Yori, Wade?"

Wade sounded relaxed. _"Pretty much, with the exception of who captured her and put her under mind control."_

"_You'll have to extract some information from Yori whenever she wakes up, no matter the method."_

"Got it."

"_And…uh, by the way…"_ Nev continued, _"You might be wise to keep her out of public eye. If she's the one who attacked Bueno Nacho Corporate HQ, she's sure to have made some more enemies… Some of the Bueno Nacho Corporate honchos have some strong security... Well, better way of putting it is that since Yori attacked Bueno Nacho Corporate HQ, there's a price on her head and people will be looking for her."_

Ron nodded. "I see what you're trying to say …"

"_Wait a second… perhaps I spoke too soon… you guys might want to turn on the news…"_

Puzzled, Kim and Ron went looking for the TV remote, and once Kim found it, she turned on the TV and switched to the news. She and Ron were trying to read what it said at the bottom of the screen.

"_Sixteen are confirmed dead. All the dead have been identified as presidents of various companies of Bay City, including…" The two skipped a long list of the most popular and rich companies that Bay City had to offer, ranging from electronic hardware, computer technology, entertainment, international trades, weapons, and funding. "… Each were found dead in various locations. Police reports indicate that the men were all murdered possibly between 3 AM and 4 AM…"_

Kim kept a stern face. "Sixteen men killed in an hour?"

Wade had the video feed on his monitor. _"Sounds like we found out what part of the diversion was for."_

The screen of the Kimmunicator finally split in half, allowing for a visual of Nev, who was shaking his head. _"Keep reading."_

Ron did so. "_All of the murdered were rumored to be part of the mafia/crime syndicate known as 'The Forefathers'_… Do we know them?"

Wade was perplexed. _"The Forefathers? Forefathers… I'm not getting anything on them…"_

Since Nev lived in Bay City four a couple of months, _"That's how powerful they are. You see, these guys are truly the worst of the worst in Bay City. They're the kings of all the corporations here, and if you think anyone abuses their power, you haven't met these guys yet. In fact, they're suspected to be behind the most vigorous murders all around town, we're talking amputated bodies, turning clients into dog food, really brutal police reports… it's impossible to send them to jail. One person managed to, but the old guy had enough bail money for five lifetimes. Whoever tried them was later found dead with… well, you don't want to know."_

"_With a profile like that I'm sure I should've found something on them… Wait, Nev… how do you know about this?"_

"_I've got a friend in high places."_

Ron continued to read the report. "Sounds like they suffered quite a bit…"

Kim turned her head to the scrolling text on the bottom, reading it out loud. "The obvious causes of death seem to differ with each victim, but police reports indicate that each victim had… their… blood drained…"

Both Kim and Ron shared disgusted looks on their faces.

Nev didn't seem surprised. _"Serves them right. I'm just surprised whoever did it managed to do it so fast. Sixteen men, drain their blood in an hour… I thought that kind of stuff was done in B-grade horror flicks. But something like this doesn't sound like a solo thing."_

"I beg to differ," Kim replied, still reading the screen. "All of the victims had a mark on their foreheads, a devil's skull with backward sixes."

"_Mark of a madman. Oi."_

Kim realized Nev was the only calm one. "You really don't sound concerned, Nev."

He shook his head._ "Not often does something good like this happen. But it sounds like some assassin was hired. So first they send one after Ron, Yori, but something like this couldn't have been done unless there's something huge in store for all of us, but what? Unless..."_

Wade broke in._ "Someone has a lot of power they're willing to exercise… so take out the competition…"_

"_Smart… take out the leaders of the biggest corporations in the biggest economic city in the states and send the city into pandemonium and become the main high power. Someone taking out these guys is something that was bound to happen, but I can't shake the feeling it wasn't just some grudge. Someone had the power to take them out and did it… and used a distraction from Japan to keep our favorite teen heroes from preventing it."_

"That's not going to stop us if there's more to this," Kim retorted. "Sounds like Prom all over again. Make a plan, use a distraction for us. Fun."

Ron put a hand on Kim's shoulder to calm her. "But hey, look at the bright side. At least no one's sent a syntho-drone to seduce you and at least Bueno Nacho's involved, right?" Ron realized something on those words. "None of those killed happened to be working at Bueno Nacho, did they?"

Both Wade and Nev shook their heads.

"Okay, good. No Syntho-Drone, then, and Bueno Nacho's safe… for now."

Kim groaned. "Instead, they send an old crush from Japan, one who likes you and probably doesn't know about us. Looks like we've got more than one problem here, Ron."

Ron made a sheepish look on his face. "Well, now that you put it that way, yes, we do. But what bothers me is what Yori said… 'Your death will mark the beginning of a greater plan… To ensure that the plan works, all opposition must be destroyed.'" He could hear Yori's zombie-like voice when saying this.

Nev pondered. _"Whoever's planned this out knows you two were going to interfere, so he or she wants you dead anyway, but a distraction was good enough for some of the real plan to fall through. But this morning attack was obviously not Yori's doing, but I still wonder… I'll need to ask Jen on this one…"_

"_Jen? Ooh, Nev's got a girlfriend!"_ Wade teased.

"_**Shut up!**"_ Nev barked angrily. Seeing as he scared the hell out of everyone in the room, he took a deep sigh. _"Sorry, but I told you how I am around girls…"_

"_Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, but you don't have to like, you know, isolate yourself from that kind of stuff."_

"_Oh, believe me Wade, I have my reasons."_ Nev coldly responded. _"And before you say anymore, she's a partner in information. No more."_

Ron knew exactly what Nev was talking about when he said he had his reasons, having a flashback when Nev showed him what he was made of. The image wasn't as sickening as before, but he was sure Wade and Kim didn't know about it. He decided to change the subject.

"Okay, we're getting off topic. That guy you keep referring as 'whoever's behind this'? We gotta find out who they are and what they're really up to." Ron put a hand on his fist, almost excited for a hunt.

"Can you guys get into the security cameras at those buildings each Forefather member was … whacked?" Kim couldn't believe she used that word, but tried to lighten up the situation.

"_Way ahead of you, Kim."_ Wade proudly responded, _"But the cameras don't give us anything. They used some kind of jamming device."_

"_Chaff."_

Kim was familiar with it. "The exact same weapon I'd use to disrupt electronic equipment…"

"Chaff… chaff… chaff…? Remind me what that is again?" Ron asked.

Nev explained. _"Tiny pieces of metal that reflect various electrical frequencies. Because several pieces of it spread in the air, it confuses all kinds of electronic equipment in the area. Perfect for security cameras, computers and radar equipment. I can only tell this because of one or two frames before the camera dies. Unfortunately, with the angles the cameras were at, there's no telling what other security measures the places had. It could be worse."_

Wade noticed something. _"Hmm, someone seems to have a bit of weapons knowledge these days. Last time I checked you were just an expert on the hardware and hacking."_

Nev let out a slight chuckle. _"I suppose I have my friends in high places to thank for that. Maybe I'll introduce you all one day, but right now we've got this to handle." _He turned his attention to Kim and Ron. _"It's almost noon, you two. You should probably get something to eat. Wade and I will keep looking for information on this."_

Wade nodded. _"We'll keep you posted."_

"_By the way…"_ Nev snickered. _"I know you're going to kill me for this, Kim, but I'm going to say it anyway. Nice pajamas. Bye!"_ He instantly cut communication.

Kim turned red the instant Nev mentioned that. Wade and Ron were trying to hold in their laughter but failed miserably, forcing Kim to hide her embarrassment behind a pillow. Shortly after, she popped out and stuck her tongue out at Wade, turned off the Kimmunicator, then slammed a pillow into Ron's face. She couldn't believe that she had been in her pajamas and talking to Nev, never really realizing that she was in her pajamas when talking to Wade sometimes. It wasn't like she was wearing a nightgown or anything revealing, just a purple shirt with some purple pants as always.

Ron managed to get the pillow off his face, just to hear the shower go off and Kim no longer next to him. Unfortunately for him, this meant 10 minutes for Kim to take her shower, and 30 more to make sure she looked nice, even though he constantly told her not to worry about it. Sometimes on her "Ron night" Kim would take an extra 20 minutes.

Fortunately for Ron, there were some good cartoons on since he had cable in the room. I'll leave you to decide what he watches.


	7. 06: Realization

_Oh what the hey, here's Chapter 6. Ends on a better note, even if it is a cliffhanger. Toodles._**  
**

**Chapter 6: Realization**

**

* * *

**

The two were already enjoying a meal at a different restaurant, this time having the slogan of "Insane Breakfast Burritos for Breakfast." Even though Kim and Ron came an hour and a half after breakfast was considered over, the manager recognized Ron and decided to let him and Kim eat breakfast. Ron still didn't understand why everyone recognized him and not Kim, and what he did to deserve that attention.

Waiting for their order, Kim was reading the paper while Ron was reading the comics as usual. Unfortunately, the paper hadn't covered the sixteen deaths of the Forefathers mafia, and there was really not much going on other than stocks, stocks, stocks, and to add some variety, more stocks. Makes sense for a paper that's published in a huge economic city such as Bay City, but it struck Kim odd that you had about 40 pages of business and stocks, but managed to slip in some comics.

Ron was whining. "Okay, I've read all of these strips, but I don't get any of them!"

Like the paper, they were all business-related and political comics. Not the usual favorites Ron always read. Kim stood corrected.

"You sure are getting a lot of friendly faces around here, Ron." Kim took a moment to realize.

The thought almost drove Ron crazy. "I know, and I have no idea why! It's always, 'Ah, Kim Possible, and.. what's your name?' Now it's, 'Holy berserker on a tiolet, it's Ron Stoppable! You're always with that one chick…'"

"'That one chick?'"

"Something among those lines, yeah."

Kim felt a bit awkward about this. "Weird."

Ron shared the same awkward expression, but for a different reason. "I hope Rufus can handle himself."

"Well, he _was_ adamant on watching over Yori."

They had left Rufus to guard Yori, armed with a shotgun that he secretly brought off the internet. Kim and Ron were a bit skeptical when the little naked mole rat volunteered to watch her alone, but he was intent on fulfilling his duty and letting the two go out to eat. After the door closed and locked, the little mole rat pulled out his secret toy. He wasn't that surprised that Ron never noticed it in his bag, but was when airport security never caught it. Despite how tiny he was, he had a firm grip on the weapon and was going to make sure no one walked in the room.

Unfortunately for Ron's beloved pet, his duty wasn't going to last long.

"I suppose you're right. He's always got something planned."

Right after that, their order arrived. A breakfast burrito for each. Scrambled eggs with cheese with sliced hot dog wieners in a homemade flour tortilla really does the job in the morning. After they finished, both felt full. Kim came to realize something after letting out a tiny burp, which Ron chuckled at.

"Ate too fast." She excused.

"Sure…" Ron replied sarcastically.

"By the way, Ron, I've noticed that you came here for Bueno Nacho, but we haven't really even eaten at Bueno Nacho like always. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but what's the deal?"

Ron leaned back in his chair with a smug look on his face. "Research, KP."

"Explain."

"Simple. Go to other kinds of restaurants, check out their food, design, logo, prices, combos and the deal, and see if I can get any ideas for Bueno Nacho if the corporate board needs me for another meeting."

"Ferno never contacted you after the explosion?"

Ron shook his head. "Not really. Probably wants to keep it low just in case. It was only two days ago, after all."

* * *

Outside in an alleyway behind the restaurant, they were being eavesdropped by someone. They were holding some kind of microphone up to the wall, wearing a headset. 

"Sounds like Stoppable still has Bueno Nacho in mind."

"_That's good to hear. They're not aware of your presence?"_

"Please, I'm too good for that."

"_That's my girl. Have they said anything about the bombing?"_

"Stoppable captured the assassin last night, and it sounds like he left his pet in charge to protect her."

"_Is that so? I'm surprised so much of the media covers his partner, Kim Possible, and not him. He has no less potential than she does. I'm still amazed how well he handled the board at the explosion."_

"He sure has a way of manipulating his enemies into thinking he's a mere buffoon. Nice way to throw off the enemy. Still, I'm not confident the assassin will stay captured for long."

"_You left your D-Mic back here last night."_

"I forgot. From where I was at, it looked like he and Possible shared some dialogue after he incapacitated the assassin, but I couldn't hear it. Probably wondering what was going on and all that."

"_Don't make any quick moves. Remember, you're out there to get information in regards to what's been going on lately. Possible makes it like the movies where the hero is recognized and praised and makes it look like it's all about action."_

"I know, I know. The last thing I want is attention from a bunch of people I don't even know."

"_Any words from our main lead?"_

"He's not home."

"_We should invite him for dinner sometime."_

"I've asked him several times and he rejects every one of them."

"_Really? That's too bad, really. I kind of like him."_

"I know where this is going, and I'm just going to ask for you to stop. Remember, I'm getting information here."

"_Sorry. Anything interesting?"_

"Well…"

* * *

"Remember, KP, don't go for the hot sauce now." Ron teased. 

"I'm going to be careful what I drink from now on, Ronnie," Kim playfully said, then spoke normally. "Really Ron, when do I repeat my mistakes?"

He whistled innocently, "Oh, I can think of a few times…"

Her eyes narrowed, "Oh really?"

"Really. Remember that time we ran through the halls of Dementor's lab and we both slipped on the floor because it had been mopped? We both got up, ran and slipped again."

"That's because Dementor thought it was some kind of evil idea not to put a 'wet floor' sign for us to see. And you slipped again too!"

Ron crossed his arms. "I always slip, though. Point is, _you_ still slipped, too."

Kim pouted. "Okay, that's one. Name another."

Ron started to giggle. "How about that one time when we were taking on the Bloody Sunsets in Alaska?"

Kim buried her head in the table. "Don't remind me, I know, I know. I tried to run on the ice, fell, tried to run on it again, and fell, then I remembered I had ice skates. That was embarrassing. But if I remember correctly, it was you that got hit by the ice gun and turned into an ice cube."

"More funny were their initials. Acronym, Synonym, Antrim, what's that word?"

"Acronym. That's the Ice Shadows for you. I still can't believe we fought a group in there called the Demented United Men of Bemused Anti-Security Society. That doesn't even make sense."

"That's a killer acronym, though."

"Ha ha," Kim sarcastically laughed. "Really, we fight a serious villain, then a cult breaks out in his name, and they're worse than Dementor, Killigan, Monkey Fist and the rest."

"How about the Maniacal Order Redemption Of Nightmares? Virtual Reality's nice and all, but when you're standing right in front of the bad guys, why bother to duke it out with helmets?"

"Not as bad as the Sinister Terror Field Union. Those guys thought their name meant that they built evil robots. I gotta admit, those robots weren't too bad. The Ice Shadows were deadly all right, but not smart or tactical..."

"Heh, villainy's best left to the professionals, eh, KP?"

"And even _they_ don't do it right." Kim stretched out her arms. "I don't know about you, but I could use some sunlight."

Ron shrugged. "Sure."

* * *

"Sounds like since Drakken took over Bueno Nacho, the two haven't really had much to deal with." 

"_The Ice Shadows, huh?"_

"Nothing more than some stupid fad that made some teens want to become villains, if the newspaper reports were accurate."

"_It sounds like they're leaving."_

"Change position. I know."

* * *

The two had been walking out of the restaurant still talking about the many groups within the Ice Shadows that were just bad. Besides Gil, Ryan, and even Ron, teenagers didn't make good villains. There was a reason most of their villains were all adults, most in their thirties, less than few in their twenties. 

In the middle of their conversation about the group Permanent Odyssey Order, Kim's Kimmunicator went off.

"Hey Wade, what's…" Kim stopped when she noticed his expression.

"_Yori. She's escaped."_

Ron quickly grabbed the Kimmunicator from Kim's hand. "You're kidding, right?"

Wade shook his head. _"I had my satellites on your room the whole time. She woke up, but just as we predicted, she suffered a severe side effect, almost going into a phase of insanity. Don't worry, Rufus is okay, but she's out there somewhere. Each time I find her, she moves to the roof of another building. Guess where I found her last?"_

Ron groaned. "Right in front of us…?"

Wade nodded. _"And I'm guessing what she saw was…"_

Kim and Ron noticed they were holding hands.

"Aw man, you don't think…?"

"_Probably… Sorry you two, but she might have found out. The thing is, because of what she's going through, she might not even know, but out of the locations I picked her up on, she stayed there the longest. Now I can't even find her."_

Kim sighed. "Keep looking, Wade."

Ron's eyes had worry in them. "Please…"

Wade also had a worried look. _"I'll do my best."_

_

* * *

_

"_What are they talking about?"_

"I'm not sure, but it sounds like the assassin escaped and went insane from something."

"_Keep your focus on the assassin for now. You'll get spotted if you hang around the team."_

"Copy that. Moving away from current position."

"_If you find the assassin, don't make any moves unless she seems to be talking to a colleague. Leave the team alone for now."_

"Understood."

The girl put away her D-Mic and vanished.

* * *

Kim and Ron had been pretty silent after breakfast, walking through the streets. Ron had called his hotel room and Rufus picked up, telling him everything that happened. Ron was able to make out that Yori woke up in an instant and headed out the balcony the next second. There was no stopping her, but her weapons remained hidden under the bed. 

Kim felt a bit troubled by Ron's feelings toward Yori. What if Ron still had feelings toward her? She couldn't help but feel a bit jealous, but at the same time, she couldn't blame Ron for being so worried. Even if there might have been fireworks between Ron and Yori, he still considered her a friend and was extremely worried about her. The thing that puzzled her the most, however, was how sensitive Ron was being toward Yori's feelings. Was it really that important to break things to her slowly and quietly about their relationship?

Maybe she was missing the point. Out of all the times Kim had an interest in someone, she never thought about any consequences. It was just like her missions, though. Sometimes you had no time to think about your next move and what it would do. You just had to take it. The problem was, Kim had plenty of time to think about relationships. Also, she never took anyone else's feelings into consideration. Why would she? Would it matter if the cheerleading squad had not approved of a crush? If anything, Kim loved the fact that they may have been jealous. That's what Josh and Erik were all about. Well, Josh was a cool and nice guy, but he took things a bit fast. Erik on the other hand, that was more peer pressure than anything else. At the time, Bonnie was trying to get to Kim about a boyfriend, and Kim fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.

But each time, Kim never took Ron's feelings into consideration, or any guy that may have liked her. There was that one night at the tree house, but that was just their friendship. Erik came by just on time to ruin the moment, as if knowing Kim would leave Ron for him. But everyone knows how that ended. Kim never really experienced having feelings for someone when they were taken and had feelings for someone else. There were a couple of times when it happened, but either she quickly forgot about the crush as she had done a few times before, or it wasn't that big enough of a crush to get all depressed over.

That wasn't Ron, though. She knew him well enough that if he had gotten a crush on someone or got into a relationship, he would have made sure everyone was cool with it. Kim was usually supportive of Ron's choices as he was with hers, but just like him, she would sometimes secretly disagree. Ron may not have had a lot of friends, and neither did Kim, but he wanted to make sure no one ever got hurt. It wasn't like he was going to base his relationships based on what others want, but he wanted to keep everyone cool.

Now the situation was with Yori. He wanted to stay with Kim, but he had no intention whatsoever of blowing off Yori or forgetting her. Ron's limited number of friends were important to him, regardless of who they were or what they did. His friendship with Kim was the most important, but he wasn't going to blow off anyone because of it.

That's where Kim felt troubled, if not guilty. She felt bad for completely ignoring and blowing off Ron when she crushed on someone in the past, but he didn't do the same when he crushed on someone, and now was no different. Sure, he didn't tell her all the details when he went with Yori to look for Sensei, but at least he gave her a head's up, even if it didn't make much sense. Was she really that insensitive and shallow? Perhaps at the time, but even now she felt like that wasn't something that had changed. Sure, Ron was always the sensitive one, but she was hoping her insensitivity towards something else other than her squeeze would be a trait that would die down.

Maybe some things in life were much more precious to Ron than Kim. Ron would dwell on things, but Kim would simply forget such things. On both ends, sometimes it could be good, but often it would be bad. That's everyday life, anyway. On missions, they both held grudges and never forgot their target. Kim would remember who got away and always had to get her villain, and Ron would keep a list of villains who knew his name. Despite Prom night, most of the villains they fought since still didn't know his name. Odd that everyone in Bay City does.

Kim felt the situation was a tad bit ironic. She was a girl who could balance saving the world, homework, and cheerleader practice. But when it came to crushes and squeezes, she couldn't. Yet here's Ron, who couldn't balance high school, changing the world, homework, and Bueno Nacho, but yet he keeps all his friends in line. Kim was his main priority, but they would sometimes spend days with their friends. Sometimes Kim had her days with Monique, and sometimes Ron had his days with Felix. The two had their space, but no more than their everyday lives before they started dating.

It never really concerned her how Yori would take everything if she ever recovered. Would she take it well? Would she be hurt? The two questions never crossed Kim's mind.

Ron's mind was on the other girl who wasn't his girlfriend. He was dead-worried about what Yori may have been going through. He wasn't only concerned about how she would take the truth of him and Kim, but also her mental instability and what it was doing to her. He couldn't help but ask himself why he decided to leave Yori alone with Rufus, even though his pet assured him that there was nothing anyone could do. Yori woke up in one second and was out the next. But it wasn't like he wouldn't act any different if Kim were in the same situation, but she wasn't. If Kim _and_ Yori were in the same situation, that would be another story. It would probably drive him insane.

Sure, Kim was his girlfriend, but other than a cut on her arm and the usual plot against them, she wasn't in any real danger. But Ron considered Yori a close friend and a bit of a crush. Well, she was a huge crush, but once he started dating Kim that changed. But he went to Yamanouchi twice, the first time to train himself to save Kim, and the second time to complete the full training. He didn't see Yori either time, as she had graduated earlier than he and Kim did, not that the schools were in any way identical.

Just when the image of her crossed his mind, everything suddenly went blank.

No one was next to him. Not Kim, not anybody walking around in the city, nothing. The only thing he could see were the buildings, but everything was in absolute silence. No pigeons, no traffic, no street lights working, no train above the city, no animation whatsoever.

Except him. Ron could see his arms, legs, everything, and feel them. Dreams have a tendency to occur from both first-person and third-person view, but this didn't feel like a dream at all. Things were in first person as everyday life had always been.

"_It's been a long time, Yori…"_

The dark echoed voice was an unfamiliar one. Ron couldn't determine where it came from, but it was like he was overhearing a conversation.

"_Do I know you…?"_

It was Yori's voice, and it came from the right.

"_Not as the person you once remembered me as…"_

The unfamiliar male voice came from high above. Ron turned upward, but saw nothing.

"_You…"_

Below Ron's feet.

"_Now you remember... Excellent…"_

To the left.

The dialogue then continued in Japanese from all directions. Ron didn't understand any of it despite being in Japan numerous times, but there was a sickening feeling to it. Both voices had a harsh tone to them, as if Yori had been encountered by an old enemy. Yelling between the two came out as a confrontation broke out and then a lot of thuds and hits were being heard. It took Ron a while to realize that whatever was going on, he was hearing a fight. He could hear grunts from both Yori and the unfamiliar, but Yori finally let out a painful cry.

Everything then became silent. The fight stopped.

The unfamiliar male voice echoed from all directions, but it sounded faint. _"That's a good girl… No, I'm not going to kill you… I have something else in store for you… How about I reunite you with an old friend… You'll thank me later…"_

The voice completely faded out before it continued.

"Stoppable-san? Is that… you?"

Yori's voice sounded normal and extremely close. No echoes, no bizarre directions, nothing. Ron could have sworn Yori was near, but she sounded like she was in pain.

"Stoppable-san… it _is_ you!"

Ron couldn't believe what he was seeing. In an empty and silent city, he saw Yori. She was on top of the building to his left, standing on the edge. She dove off of it, landing perfectly and safely onto the concrete. She stood firm across the street from him. But nothing looked real. Everything was becoming distorted, including him and Yori. It was like a bad television signal.

"Yori?"

"Stoppable-san…"

Even Yori's voice had distortions, but they weren't electronic. Yori then sprinted across the street towards him and grabbed his hand, followed by a hug. Ron felt like he was hallucinating just a few seconds ago, but he could feel Yori completely. It was no different from when Kim held him. She was real, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Other than Yori holding him, nothing felt real. Not the bizarre colors, not her awkward appearance, his own, nothing.

"Stoppable-san, I require your bravery and help. Please…" She was calm in her tone.

"… Is that really you, Yori?" Ron asked, unsure of what to think of everything. He decided to go along with it.

"I'm doing everything in my power to contact you. You are in great danger, as is Kim Possible, but I need your help."

"Okay, how can I help you?" He had no idea he sounded like an employee at some fast-food restaurant.

"Right now my mind is unstable and I'm suffering a side effect from the mind control. I'm currently in a place where I can't move, and that is why you can hear me speak and think clearly. It won't be long before I lose control, so I will make this quick."

"Let me guess, you want me to find you right now?"

"No. Tonight, seek me out. I hope to recover by then."

"Will you be okay?"

"I hope so."

"Can you tell me what's going on and what happened to you?"

"I cannot remember anything. All I know is that I was released from some kind of mind control device and I'm unable to control my body for the most part."

"_Ron?"_

Ron recognized the voice. "That's Kim's voice."

Yori looked startled. "Stoppable-san! Please wait! I need to tell you who did this! It's… no… not again! I can't… Gyaaahhahah! Please, Stoppable-san! Get back!" She was starting to let out loud painful screams, but whatever Ron was seeing and hearing started to fade in and out repeatedly.

"_Ron? Hello?"_

"Yori! Wait!"

Everything instantly went white, blinding him. When everything cleared, everything was back to normal. The city was in movement again, the sounds of traffic and people being clearly heard, and the first thing he saw was Kim in front of him, trying to grab his attention.

"Ron? What's going on? Can you hear me?"

Ron let out a painful groan and grabbed his head. "What just happened?" He leaned against the wall of one of the buildings, his spine letting out a sickening thud as he fell against it.

Kim had a concerned look on her face. "Ron? Are you okay? We were just walking quietly when you suddenly froze, but you made a lot of faces like you were hearing or seeing things."

Ron tried to get a grasp on what just happened. "Everything just went dark… One second I'm walking with you, and the next second I'm in the city but all alone. No cars, no noise, no life, nothing. But then I see Yori."

"Yori?"

"Nothing felt real, Kim. But she told me that she knew what was going on and couldn't control herself. She wanted me to look for her tonight."

"How's that… don't tell me she also learned how to contact you?"

Ron let out a painful groan. "I don't know. This wasn't like when Sensei freaked me out with that gravy ghost. I heard different voices, too. It was like someone was fighting her."

Kim tried to understand everything but she couldn't figure it out. "I don't know what to tell you, Ron. I'm not going to tell you that it was a hallucination, but… I don't know."

A beeping noise then came from Ron's pocket. It sounded like Kim's Kimmunicator, but the tune was different. Ron pulled out the device in his pocket, and it was the little gadget that Nev gave him.

"_Ron, your vitals just froze for a second. What happened?"_

Before Ron could say a word, Kim broke in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, did you just say his 'vitals' froze? How did…"

Nev chuckled, anticipating this. _"This little toy is more than just a communications device. I've also programmed it to scan Ron's vitals. It's not that difficult to do it when the object is near his waist, perfect for scanning all areas of his nervous system, bloodstream, yadda yadda."_

Ron was no less than surprised. "And you didn't tell me this why?"

Nev had a sheepish look on his face. _"You never asked."_

Kim rolled her eyes while Ron slapped his forehead.

"_Sorry about that, but I did this because I figured something would happen if Ron came into town, and boy was I right. Too bad I didn't place any bets. But anyway, what just happened, Ron? From the scans I got, everything just went to hell. Your brain shut down, your blood pressure went low, your nerves were twitching all over your body…"_

"I think Yori gave me some kind of vision, but man, my head hurts."

Kim decided to speak for Ron. "He said that everything just went blank. The only thing he saw were the city buildings. Nobody, no traffic, no life, but Yori was there, telling him about waiting for tonight, that she couldn't control herself. He said he also heard someone's voice and it sounded like there was a fight."

"_Unless someone was trying to take over his mind, I might have to agree that Yori was trying to send him some kind of message. Even though it's written in stories that ancient ninja warriors were capable of just about anything, from inhuman movements to entering the minds of friends and enemies to read their moves, I'd believe it. Then again, I don't doubt the existence of the supernatural no matter what it may be."_

Kim on the other hand didn't believe in such things, but was in no mood to debate over it. "How would she be able to do that in the state she's in?"

"_Your guess is as good as mine. Even if her mind is working and her body is freaking out, well, forget it. She wouldn't be able to jump across buildings."_

Ron finally spoke out. "She said she was inside a building in a room where she couldn't move and was able to concentrate, but knew it wasn't going to last, but she started screaming in pain afterward."

"_Sounds like that's how she was able to get some control before freaking out again."_

Kim was surprised how confident Nev sounded. "You know this how?"

Nev shrugged. _"It's just a guess, Kim. I'm no expert on telepathy. Even if Ron was on a sugar high I don't think his mind would have made up something like that. Now if he were on drugs, that's another story, but before you ask, I've scanned his body and there's no traces of anything ever. He's as clean as a whistle."_

"Even if he wasn't, I'd know."

"_I have no doubt there, but you should keep a close eye on him for the rest of the day, Kim. If he has this kind of reaction, there's no telling what will happen if she tries to contact him again."_

"I still don't understand how she's able to."

"_Don't live by the logic of 'See to believe'. We can't see things like values, thoughts and emotions, but they're there. Things you can't possibly imagine exist, in visible form and not."_

"Not what I was getting at, but that makes sense. I was referring on the 'how to' deal."

"_Oh, that. Well, the Japanese were believed to have supernatural abilities in the past, long lost in history. I wouldn't be surprised that if Yori attended a Ninja Academy, that she would learn such things."_

"I thought that stuff was just in movies and anime."

"_Hard to tell. A lot of the culture lies on what we conceive as myth and legend. I'm not sure if it's real myself, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was proven to be. I just wish that kind of stuff still existed today. Life would be a lot easier if I learned how to swordfight in an inhuman manner, not that my body would allow it."_

"What do you mean?"

"_Never mind. Regardless of Japanese legends, true ninjas live in mysterious ways. If Yori's a graduate from a ninja academy, no doubt she's learned a few tricks, and I'm not surprised she used some in a time of need."_

Kim just nodded to acknowledge what she heard. Seconds later her Kimmunicator came off.

Wade didn't look too pleased. _"Before I say anything else, Ron, you _need_ to turn your chip back on!"_

Nev whistled._ "Busted…"_

"You know, I forgot how I even turned it off. First it's busted by Gemini, then I turn it off and I don't even know how."

None of the other three were surprised.

"_Well, I guess this means I'll have to do a manual reboot. I should've known better than to leave old technology on you both."_

"Both?" Kim asked. "I thought you just had Ron chipped."

Wade shook his head. _"How else do you think I keep up with your location?"_

"The Kimmunicator?"

Wade had a playful tone in his voice. _"You didn't have it with you when you went back to the Prom with Ron that night! You left it at home!"_

Kim had her usual unimpressed look. "No wonder you sounded so calm when we told you we were going out."

"_Even if I didn't keep you tracked, I knew it was bound to happen sometime, but I still saw everything."_

"_Nice."_ Nev complimented. _"How old are those chips anyway?"_

"_Four or five years old."_

"_Ouch. Not exactly brand new technology."_

"_Maybe I should have them turned off and removed so that I can give them new ones."_

"_There's an idea. How would you do that?"_

"_Oh, trust me, I have my ways."_

"_Magicians never reveal their secrets, eh Wade?"_

Ron still had a headache and wasn't exactly in the mood to listen to techno babble. "Love to chat, but I've got a pretty big migraine now that the pain's worn off… for the most part."

"_Nev sent me all the details already. You should probably get back to your hotel room and rest. Besides, you might want to see how Rufus is doing."_

Both Kim and Ron nodded, turned off their devices and continued back to their hotel room.

* * *

It took Ron more than a few hours to get back to normal. It's one thing to have your head hurt after receiving some kind of telepathic message sent through your head the first time, but the after effect is another. Unfortunately for Kim, she felt like Ron had transferred his pain to her. The entire day she had been bored to death channel surfing, and there was nothing for her to watch. Sure, there were martial arts movies, cartoons and a lot of violent movies, but Kim thought they were either boring or unrealistic for her tastes, based on her own experience. There were a few things on, but they weren't enough to keep her entertained for long. First there was a bloopers show. So many bloopers for today's latest shows, and one blooper for 'Pals' and 'Agony County', and they weren't even that funny. Then there was some kind of cheerleading competition, but Kim found herself surprised that she was bored of it. Maybe the music choice wasn't a good one, and the routines were terrible. Instead of showing difficult timing, athletic abilities and maneuvers that Kim had to endure all those years of middle and high school, the routines on TV consisted nothing more than the girls showing off their assets. So not Middleton. It wasn't a surprise that they all received low scores. 

Kim did find something interesting that took her mind off things for a good half hour. It was some kind of story, looking like some low-quality CG footage, but the dialogue was strong. Kim almost fell off the bed when she realized what it was.

A video game review.

Ron had taken note of this and laughed at Kim's reaction, also telling her that lately some of the best video games have production values and stories that rival that of the top movies. But that was well over an hour ago. Kim didn't know how she didn't see that one coming.

Now it was nearing 9 PM and Ron couldn't fight the feeling that he needed to do what he was instructed to do earlier: Go out and find Yori. Kim still wasn't sure if he'd actually find her, and she was reluctant to let him go at it alone. He refused to take a step away from the window.

"Are you sure you can handle this, Ron?"

Ron stretched and checked everything on him. He was already in his mission clothes. "I think it's just something I gotta do, KP. Alone."

She was laying down on the bed reading a magazine she brought with her, lowering it. "That's what worries me, Ron. What if it turns out she's _not_ okay?"

Ron chuckled. "Are you worried about me, KP?"

She scoffed. "Duh, Ron. What if it's a setup? You don't even know where to go!"

Ron tossed a few things into his utility belt. "I'll contact you if I need you. Besides, I'm packed."

Kim went back to read her magazine. "Ron, with what?"

….

"Ron?"

Ron was already out of the room. The door was completely open and was letting in a cool breeze.

* * *

The night of Bay City. Traffic, loud noises, the sound of the train flying between the buildings, a cyan and blue glow giving the city a dark but futuristic feel. 

Ron was sitting alone on the edge of one of the taller buildings. It was the same building that he and Kim had fought Yori on earlier. He sat quietly near the edge of the building, looking down on it like a ninja would in movies. The city was quite beautiful at this time.

When he had arrived earlier, he wasn't sure if there was a correct place for him to go. Would he meet up with Yori, or would Yori meet up with him? Maybe she would have picked this place, even though it looked nothing like it did last time. Ron could remember there was a lot of fog or smoke in the area, as if a helicopter had just taken off. The lights on the edges were blaring and blinding, and the building next to it lit all of them up. This time, the place was completely dark. No lights nearby, nothing. Only the blue lights on each of the corners would fade in and fade out, sometimes making Ron completely dark or lighting him up in blue.

Inside, Ron did feel worried. Not that it was the first time, but it felt a bit nostalgic going back to the location where he had an earlier battle, and the marks were still there. Yori's blood was near another edge, and Kim's blood was near the middle of the huge painted H. Not a lot, but an easy reminder of yesterday's events.

Ron's thoughts were quickly diverted as he felt a cool breeze pass by the hairs of his neck.

"You're here…" he quietly spoke with his eyes closed. He slowly stood up, turned around and opened his eyes.

Just as he predicted, Yori stood there quietly. She looked just like the girl he had known and missed from Japan, not the mindless zombie with too much makeup that he had to fight earlier. She had a weak smile, as if she were still in a lot of pain but trying to hide it. She also looked relieved to see him.

Was everything back to normal?

"Stoppable-san? It's really you…"

The two stood across from each other with a moment of silence between them.

"… You had gotten the message?"

Ron rubbed his head. "Yeah… what was that?"

"I was trying to contact you. I see I was successful for the most part."

After she finished her sentence, she slowly walked towards Ron. Chills almost went up his spine. This wasn't a kind of walk to say hi or anything. There was something peculiar in the way Yori moved her arms, legs and hips. He had a bad feeling about this, but he wasn't going to let anything wrong happen here.

Before he knew it, Yori was giving him a huge hug and squeezing him tightly. Not something she had done before, and not the usual of Japanese welcoming customs.

"It's really you!"

Okay, everything _was_ back to normal.

Ron felt a bone in his spine pop before he could mutter out a word. "You're squeezing me…"

She released him, embarrassed to what she had done. "I'm sorry. It's just that I have not seen you for so long."

Ron pressed hard against his back, popping his spine again. "I know."

Yori now had a humiliated look written all over her face. "My deepest apologies for everything that has happened."

Ron quickly turned his head to her. "You mean you knew? Yori, what's going on?"

"Stoppable-san… I… I can't remember everything. All I remember is that I came here to find and… kill you. But it was not by my own doing. No, it was… Something powering my will… instructed… I could see what was going on, but I could not control it…"

"So you saw everything that had happened since you came?"

Yori barely nodded. "Yes, but I do not remember who had done this to me. I tried as hard as I could to control myself, but the mechanisms on my ears, I could not stop it."

Ron sighed. "You don't remember who did this? That doesn't make life much easier…"

She now had a shy look on her face. "But I am grateful that you were the one to have successfully removed the device. Thank you."

Ron knew exactly where this was headed, as Yori took a few more steps closer to him, but he took a few of his own back. "You're welcome. So how… I mean, how did you know about how you were going to recover?"

"Nothing but hope. I do not understand it myself, but I knew the after effects of the device removal was bound to wear off. When it did, I remember waking up on this very rooftop, but that was a few hours ago. My head is still in pain, but I am better for the most part. To be honest, I do not understand it myself."

"Weird…" He looked relieved, but it was clear something else was bothering him.

She was able to read the look in his eyes. "Stoppable-san? What is it? Is something still wrong… You are not happy to see me?"

Ron took a nosedive in his mood. "What? No no no no no no no…! If anything, I'm more than glad you're back to normal, but it's just that…"

Yori giggled. "You finally figured it out… about girls."

Flames erupted in Ron's mind. _'She doesn't know… oh man…' _She must not have remembered what she saw earlier that day.

"Yeah… but Yori… about that…"

She had a sad look on her face. "You don't feel the same, do you?"

Ron let out a frustrated groan as he covered his head. "I… did, but you see, Yori…"

Her look of sadness increased as she waited for Ron to finish the sentence. He had no idea how he was going to break it to her.

After 20 seconds had passed, he finally let out a huge sigh. "I'm taken… I'm dating already…"

Yori's heart stopped for a mere second. "You… but… I…"

Now she was silent, but less seconds passed before she continued.

"You did not tell me… why? Why did you not tell me this when-"

Ron raised his hand to her face, instructing her to pause. "It wasn't always like that, Yori. It's just that I didn't know you had a thing for me until you flew away in that plane, but I didn't know when I'd ever see you again, and before I knew it…"

"You found someone else?" Yori now had a skeptical look on her face. "But Stoppable-san, you realized that I had feelings for you."

Ron sighed. "It was just something that happened. I didn't look for someone else, Yori. She was beside me the whole time…"

"Oh…" She quietly raised her head in realization. "Kim Possible."

Ron nodded. "Please try to understand, Yori."

She let out a weak smile. "You've known her for so many years. It… doesn't surprise me that you two would get together."

Ron didn't sense any sarcasm or anger in her voice. "We both kind of blocked out the possibility with the best-friends-only thing. It's just that…"

Yori held up her hand, mimicking Ron earlier. "You need not explain, Stoppable-san. I feared that when we would meet again your heart would be taken by someone else, but I must say that I am envious of her."

Ron wasn't convinced. "Yori, I didn't know how to break it to you, but I don't want you to think that I'm just going to ignore you because I'm with Kim. I didn't want your feelings to be hurt."

"Hurt? Oh, Stoppable-san, you have such a great big heart. Even if it's your heart I do not have, please… please let me fight by your side. I have not known anybody as brave and comical as you are. I know we are in a situation, but please, let me help. Even if we can't be together, it will be my honor to continue to fight alongside you."

Yori bowed as she always did.

"I will accept the truth as it is, but I still wish to aid you in any way that I can."

Ron put a hand over his fist and bowed.

"I'd be my honor to let you."

Just as Yori and Ron rose up, the two exchanged a smile. Even if things were different, the two were very happy to see each other, as friends. Suddenly, Yori's eyes went elsewhere.

"We're not alone, Stoppable-san."

Ron slapped his forehead. "I should've known Kim would-"

He stopped as he noticed there was a tiny red glowing dot on Yori's chest. It was moving back and forth slowly, as if someone were holding a flashlight to her but was nervous. Yori didn't recognize it, but Ron did as the dot came to a complete stop over Yori's heart.

"GET DOWN!"

He darted towards Yori as fast as he could and pushed her off her feet, knocking them to the ground. A gunshot could be heard in the middle of it, but once the two found the stairway building, they quickly ran and hid behind it.

Yori was breathing fast. "Stoppable-san, your shoe!"

Ron took a second to inspect his right shoe. A small bit had been taken off by a bullet, but no harm was done to him. It only took off the edge of it. It didn't go through it or anything. He was going to look past the edge of the wall when he noticed the red glow was on the floor near them.

"Yori, do you have any smoke bombs?"

She shook her head. "Other than my fan blades I am not equipped."

'_Right, we took her weapons…'_ Ron started to dig through his utility belt. "Guess I'll have to use one of mine then. Listen, you stay here. You're the one they're after."

"How do you know? And what about you?"

"Trust me on this. I'll look for them."

"Five months later and you are more brave than ever. Good luck."

Ron nodded as he stood up. "Cover your eyes and don't breathe."

* * *

A few blocks east, the sniper looks at the situation through the scope of their gun. 

"You have got to be kidding me… Can't believe I missed…"

She kept her focus on the edge of that building that led to the steps. Sooner or later their target would make a foolish move. Suddenly, everything went grey.

"Dammit, a smoke bomb!"

She quickly turned her eyes away from the scope and pulled out a pair of binoculars. From the outside they looked like ordinary binoculars, but it was built out of the latest technology. Thermal and night vision were two of many modes were built in. She could still see Yori's heat signatures on the other side.

"Hmm... only a diversion. Looks like whoever she was meeting up with ran off." It was too dark to make out any faces, but she recognized Yori's silhouette immediately.

Little did she know that 'whoever she was meeting up with' was behind her.

Ron was on the opposite side of the building where the girl had set herself up. It wasn't really that difficult to find her, since the dot on Yori's chest was a clear indication. If the bullet hit the west side of the building, it would have come from the opposite direction; east. Ron had used the smoke bomb to give himself an escape with the grappling hooks in his gloves. He was surprised it actually worked, though, but now came the question of stealth.

The girl was armed with a PSG-1 Sniper Rifle, fully loaded with the exception of one bullet. He was armed with nothing but diversionary weapons. Smoke bombs and the like, most homemade from Japan.

The sniper didn't seem to know that Ron was anywhere near her. She kept her sights focused on Yori, who was sitting patiently on the building. Ron wasn't sure how to handle this. Walk up behind them and tell them to stop? Try to knock them out? Fight? This girl could have been the one they had been looking for.

Time wasn't on his side. Any second the girl would have changed her strategy and gone after Yori with something else. Yori was in danger now, not him, at least not yet. Ron decided to creep behind the girl as quickly and quietly as he could. He would have the element of surprise if he could pull it off, as long as Rufus didn't make any noises. He'd been sleeping too much lately.

'_Now or never, Ron…'_

He began his approach.


	8. 07: Divergence

**Chapter 7: Divergence**

* * *

Stealth was a lot more difficult in real life than it was in the movies or games. You could walk behind an enemy and make sure they didn't see you, easy. But Ron had to make sure a lot of things wouldn't throw him off and blow his cover. It looked just like tip-toeing everywhere else, but he had to make sure he didn't breathe loudly or at all, that his body joints wouldn't pop for no reason, and that his feet made no noise.

He had been walking quietly for three minutes already, and he was barely halfway there.

Sure, Ron had been trained as a ninja, but he was extremely nervous. Anything could go wrong and Yori could be shot. He also hoped Yori wouldn't make any sudden moves that would allow her to become hurt.

Slowly…

Quietly…

The thought of some food didn't help things either…

Finally, he had made it to the girl. He was right behind her and she had no idea he was near. She was far too focused on her prey.

_Grooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaoooooooo_

Ron's face turned red as his eyes almost popped out of his skin. He should've known his _stomach_ was his worst enemy. Worst, the sniper heard it all. Without hesitation, she thrusted her gun backward at him, the butt of her gun striking his chin, and without giving him a second to recover, she grabbed the barrel of her gun and swung it at him like a baseball bat, destroying the gun completely and sending Ron flying back where he started. He was now tasting concrete.

She quickly got up and pulled out a handgun, holding it firm in her hand. She couldn't see who her new guest was.

"Who are you? Get up slowly! Don't think of any funny moves, wise guy!"

Ron got up and grabbed his head as if he didn't hear her, but she reminded him by pushing her Desert Eagle against the back of his neck.

"Answer me! Who are you and why did you follow me here? Maybe the real question is… how did you know I was up here?"

Ron let out a painful groan. "You know, I've had my share of unwelcome entrances, but that was a bit harsh."

The girl pushed her gun further into his skin. "Answer my question! You know what…. Turn around. There's been few people who managed to sneak up on me like that. I want to see your face…"

Slowly, with his hands now raised in the air, Ron turned around to reveal himself. He froze at the sight before him, a young blonde beautiful girl with shining blue eyes. She had a stern look on her face that reminded him of Kim, but she had eyes of compassion. They weren't cold in any way.

She also froze when she saw Ron's face, immediately dropping her gun and taking a few steps back.

"Oh my gosh… You're… You're Ron Stoppable, aren't you?"

Ron almost felt like he was cursed. "Whoa, okay, yes, it's me, the one and only Ron. Now why does everyone here know me?" He was acting as if standing at gunpoint didn't happen.

The girl ignored his question. "But if… I mean… Okay, I'm confused."

Ron was surprised that she now spoke like an ordinary teenager. She sure didn't have the look of an assassin other than her raincoat. More surprised that he wasn't the only one confused for once.

"I can't believe I'm so stupid!" The girl pounded her head with her fists. "I am soooooo sorry about that!"

Ron observed the red areas on his face. "What, this? Happens all the time."

The girl shook her head. "No, I'm serious, that's no way to treat someone who's saved someone you love."

Mentally, Ron rolled his eyes. Here comes the story at ten.

"I didn't mean to do that, it's just that… well, I have a thing with boys sneaking up on me like that, I just didn't know if it was any different on the job."

Disregard.

The girl then removed her raincoat. Ron's jaw almost dropped with what he saw. She was no more older than he was, had a build that was similar of Kim's, she was wearing cargo shorts and wore a blue tank top. A bit more skin, but nothing questionable. Her smile had a more cute quality than Kim's, he thought.

"My name's Jen. I can't believe it was you who saved my dad!"

Ron blinked a few times, "Whoa, back up, wha-"

Before he knew it Jen had wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big fat smooch on the cheek. He completely froze.

She twirled around almost dreamily. "I've heard so much about you, but no one said you were cute."

The expressionless look on his face confirmed her thoughts. Except…

"**RON!**"

Ron went pale as he instantly recognized the other voice. "KP?"

Both turned towards the east side of the building, where Kim had just landed, putting her grappling gun away.

She wasn't too pleased. "I knew you were bound to run into some trouble, Ron…"

"But wait, KP! I mean, she… Yori… this is complicated…" He covered his face. He knew he was in for it now.

"You're not going anywhere without an explanation," Kim threatened.

"Stop!"

Now it was Yori's voice, who somersaulted and landed on the opposite side of the building.

The second Yori's feet landed on the roof, all hell broke loose. Jen quickly rolled on the ground, picked up her gun and pointed it at Yori's head. However, she saw that Kim and Ron were about to stop her. Before long, she had her gun aimed at Yori in one hand, the other hand wrapped on Kim's neck, and one leg wrapped around Ron's neck. From a glance, it appeared she could barely maintain her balance, but she was no less still than the concrete they were all standing on.

Jen quickly went stern again. "You guys had better not get in my way."

"Whoa, time out, time out!" Ron yelled. "This is all some big misunderstanding!"

Jen's tone went cold. "We can talk about it _after_ I kill her."

"Stop it, Jen…" came another voice. Everyone looked at the small red glowing dot on Jen's face, but it quickly went to her gun and before anyone knew it, it was shot straight out of her hand and to the farthest corner of the building. "He's right. This is all a big misunderstanding."

Jen's voice went shaky.

"Nev? But…"

Slowly, she got out of her position and back on her feet. Sure enough, Nev was on the far end of the roof them wearing a trenchcoat and glasses, giving him a sophisticated look. Kim and Ron were more than surprised to see him.

"Really, do you want to head home and tell your dad you killed the suspected assassin? He's not going to be too happy to hear that."

It felt like a bad family reunion for Ron. "This is just peachy," he sarcastically remarked, "Again I have no idea what's going on."

Nev chuckled. "I'm not surprised, but actually, a whole lot of this makes sense now."

Kim turned to Nev. "You… knew about this?"

He shook his head. "Not in that way. I realized just now that these pieces are of the same puzzle. You all can relax, we're not enemies here."

The other four continued to sure suspicious gazes at each other. Kim kept glaring at Jen, who kept her eyes on Yori, who kept her eyes on Ron, who kept his eyes on Kim.

Nev scratched the back of his head. "This is going to take a while…" He then took on a firm mood. "Right now, step away from each other, all of you."

This time he actually pulled out a different handgun and pointed it at them, but it looked heavily modified.

"This laser gun can lock on and home in on any four targets I desire, whether it be military weapons on air, water or ground, or humans themselves. I don't want any funny moves from any of you. If one of you fall, you all fall. Got it?"

As if feeling betrayed, the four did as instructed, but now their eyes were on Nev.

"Since I know the real deal behind everything, well, for the most part, I'll fill you all in."

Jen interrupted. "How did you get your hands on that weapon?"

He scoffed. "You really thought I wasn't paying attention when you told me how each and every one of your weapons worked, didn't you?"

She didn't answer.

"So… who is she?" Kim asked.

Jen answered. "Jennifer Ferno. I'm not too keen on the double 'Fer' in my name, so people just call me Jen."

Ron interfered. "Why were you after Yori, then? Wait, are you-"

Jen gave Ron a really cold look. "Yori should be obvious, because she tried to kill my dad."

Ron whispered to Kim. "Think she's the puppet master in this?"

Nev let out an exasperated sigh. "This is why I said I'd be the one explaining things."

"You do that…" Kim requested.

"Okay. Let's warp back to the Bueno Nacho attack. Yes, that was Yori, but she was under mind control and she was targeting Ron. Jen's dad just happened to be in the same room."

Ron thought about it. _'Jen's dad was there…?'_

Nev continued. "And Jen's been following Ron ever since he got here so that her dad knew everything was bomb diggity with the whole 'Ron's coming over' deal."

Jen blinked. "You knew?"

He nodded. "Your dad was the one who wanted me to make sure nothing would happen to you. He also wanted me to make sure you didn't mess up."

Kim intervened. "Okay, who is she _really?_ Other than the name?"

Nev sighed. "Like you're the heroine of Middleton, Jen's the silent heroine of Bay City."

Jen had a sheepish smile. "Hi."

"Ferno…" Ron thought out loud.

Ferno was the president of Bueno Nacho, wasn't he?

"Ferno? No way, you're Ben Ferno's daughter? The Bueno Nacho President?"

Jen avoided eye contact. "Yeah."

Kim still wasn't convinced about the earlier detail, seeing that she whacked Ron with a sniper rifle and then kissed him on the cheek. "Okay, so let me get this straight, she's a hero around here?"

Jen answered. "That's not the term I'd use, more of a vigilante." Her focus wasn't on Kim, though. "Did I hear you right? 'Yori' was under mind control?"

Yori nodded. "I deeply apologize for getting your father involved in this. I saw everything that happened but I could not control it no matter how hard I tried."

Nev seconded Yori. "She's telling the truth. It was a device in her earrings that relayed a signal to her brain."

Jen took a look at Yori's brown eyes. They were sincere all right. "My bad. I should've been more careful in my judgment."

"You can say that again." Kim snapped, still bitter over the small bit of lipstick on Ron's cheek.

"So what's your damage?" Jen asked as if she weren't in any way intimidated by Kim.

Kim nodded her head towards Ron's left cheek, where Jen had kissed him only minutes ago.

"Oh, that. Well, he did help my dad escape from the attack that night, and I honestly didn't think I'd meet him in person. My dad told me to keep a watch on him to make sure he arrived, but I never expected to see him right in front of me, so I thanked him in a way I thought he deserved. Oh, I get it, you're jealous."

Kim growled. "Did it ever concern you that he has a girlfriend?"

Jen looked at Ron, raising an eyebrow. "You have a girlfriend?" She was completely oblivious.

Ron nodded, then motioned his head at Kim.

Her jaw almost dropped. "You're _dating_ Kim Possible? You mean you two…"

Both nodded.

"Then that means…" The cold part of her attitude dropped like an anvil. "Oh hell, what's gotten into me lately? I am soooooooooo sorry for that! I had no idea he was taken… by you! That's… wow. You lucky girl you…"

Everyone but Nev was surprised how quickly the vigilante of the night turned into a… regular girl. Yori restrained herself from making a face at Jen's reaction to Kim and Ron.

Kim seemed to lower her tension. "Okay, now a lot of things make sense… so you're also not the one who took out the Forefathers…"

"No, but I honestly wish. They were what you'd call my archenemies. They're the main reason I do what I do here."

If Jen lied, she was a really good liar, but she was an honest type, a _brutally_ honest type.

Kim continued. "So you're really not the one we're after, but… how did you and Nev…?"

"I'll answer that," Nev replied. "Much like how you and Ron are the teen heroes from Middleton, Jen's the one from here, only she doesn't travel throughout the world and she works alone… for the most part."

Jen confirmed this. "He's told me quite a bit about you, not that anyone hasn't heard of you and Ron."

"I beg to differ." Ron interfered.

Jen continued as if she didn't hear him. "Anyway, you two have a techno wizard helping you two out, right? Well, Nev's mine. I met him online while he was still in Lowerton working alone in his house, making weapons for various government agencies. They helped him move to Bay City a while back, and me and my dad already moved here, so we met and he was familiar with the teen agent thingie. That was about four months ago when we met?"

"That's about right. You and your dad moved here after that Lil' Diablo fiasco, but you had been 'in the business' long before then."

Ron grabbed his head. "Wait, that was before we met, right? So was that what you meant when you said KP and I weren't the only ones in the field? That Jen was also…?"

Nev smirked. "Exactly right."

Ron then grabbed his jaw and moved it back and forth. "Should've figured she wasn't _just_ a sniper. My jaw still hurts."

Jen grinded her teeth just hearing this. "Really really sorry. I've had weapons training and I know the ins and outs of just about every weapon in existence; handheld, vehicle, or projectile. Sometimes when someone scares the crap out of me like that I use weapons in a manner not intended."

Kim was still skeptical. "So that's why you were armed with a…" she looked at the remains of the gun nearby, "… a PSG-1… A PSG-1? So you were actually going to kill Yori? Is that how you 'save' the city? By killing people?"

Nev and Ron rolled their eyes.

Jen didn't take Kim's tone lightly. "If you're going to assume I kill for sport, I don't. I _only_ go there as a last resort. But get my dad involved and someone's going to pay with their life. Other than that, I can tell you haven't been here for long, Kim. You see, Bay City has some of the worst villains you can imagine, and you'll only find them if you look hard enough. Since my dad has business ties, that's where I looked and found them. These guys aren't just ordinary Joes who want to take over the world for attention, these are the kinds with all the power in the world and use it for their own entertainment, and it always comes at the expense of others. I'm not talking about humiliation and the like, I'm talking about taking lives. You can't try them in court or put them in jail, and even if you do, they have enough bail money to last them five lifetimes. Pedophiles, gangsters, the mob, funding terrorists and the like. Want to deal with these people? You better be sure you do everything flawlessly. I'm sure you heard about the Forefathers."

"Wade spared us the details earlier, but-"

"Those guys target innocent family men and women. If they do something wrong, which mostly consists of a setup, they're dead, and their family is sold off to the highest bidder in a country that hates Americans regardless of their race or beliefs. The wife is sold off to prostitution who's always found with a bullet in her head and hacked limbs. The children? Sold off to sweatshops any and everywhere. So don't you try to change my mind on what justice is. As far as I'm concerned, it's removing a problem. Sometimes it requires the worst of all actions to do it. Many people here won't realize it, but I'm the reason they're able to walk to work in the morning without being mugged or killed. You live here for a few months and tell me otherwise, and I'll be impressed. So back off."

Everyone but Nev froze at Jen's spirit in her cause.

Kim still had a few words to share. "That… makes sense for the most part. Have you actually… you know… killed anybody?"

Jen sighed. "Yes, but none of those killed were by any means innocent…"

Nev supported her. "Not in any way. Imagine if you're near a sex offender who was released but was back to their old tactics. Try sitting on a rooftop one night and witness the beginning of a rape crime. What else are you going to do when you're armed with a gun? And what are you going to do if the non-fatal gunshot wound does nothing to stop them?"

Kim had lost her intention to argue. "I see. Not something I'd do, but I understand. So how old…?"

"Eighteen." Jen replied. "I just graduated from a High School in Colorado earlier this year. The whole killing thing isn't something I'm proud of, but believe me, I've tried everything else that didn't involve death. These people just commit crimes, kill people and ruin innocent lives, and do it over and over until they're dead. I know I messed up with Yori, but everybody else I've had to take down, there's no good in them. Those are the _only_ people I take down, really. It's not like I get a thrill out of it. Never have, and I hope I never will."

Nev chuckled. "Not what I'd say about that so-called 'victim' in the desert."

Jen narrowed her eyes at him. "You try working at night and suddenly have a snake crawl up your leg! That thing was just so gross!"

Kim noticed the sincerity in Jen's voice, and what she was wearing indicated she was no amateur or liar. "So, other than that, you're just like us…?"

"That's right. Just another ordinary crazy strange girl with a lot of weapons training trying to do her part." She let out a huge innocent beam that almost blinded Kim.

"Don't let her weapons knowledge and seriousness toward her work fool you," Nev warned. "She's actually more of a goof than Ron is."

Jen stuck her tongue out. "Quiet, you."

Kim was convinced but still a bit skeptical of the new girl, but now turned her attention to the other one. Jen didn't know that she and Ron were dating, meaning…

"And Yori?"

Ron knew where this was headed, almost as if he were reading Kim's mind. "She's fine for the most part, and I've already told her about us."

"And…?"

Yori answered. "It is okay, Possible-san. I am in no position to challenge the decisions that Stoppable-san has made, especially those that relate to the heart. He cares a lot for you, and even though you try to hide it, I can see that you care for him just as much as he does for you. It would be dishonorable to try to change anything."

Kim quickly replied. "Good to hear."

Nev finally lowered his weapon, seeing that everyone's faces seem to be calm. "So it seems we're all on the same page here. Sorry about that, but I didn't want anyone to get physical." He decided to show everyone what he was holding, but laughed the whole time.

"Oh, by the way, I bluffed. I wish there was a way to track four people, and actually, I forgot to take the safety off. Score one for me."

Everyone but Ron was in disbelief, as his focus was elsewhere.

"There's one thing missing," Ron realized. "Yori and Jen aren't the enemy, so who was it that put Yori under mind control?"

Kim thought about it for a second. "She doesn't remember?"

"I do not, Possible-san. I could see everything that was going on, but I do not remember anything prior."

"Great…"

Meanwhile, Jen had already picked up her handgun and reloaded it. "I'm sorry about my involvement, I guess I kinda freaked out when my dad was under fire. It's not like me."

Ron put a hand on her shoulder. "It's cool, we all mess up sometime."

Jen slowly removed his hand. "Thanks. To make up for it, I'll help you guys out in any way I can."

Nev got up from his crouching position. "It'd be wise to accept it, you two. No one knows the ins and outs of the city better than she does, and she's awesome at weapons detail."

Jen put her handgun in her holster. "Besides, I want to find out who's really behind this."

Yori placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. "I also wish to assist you in this search, Stoppable-san."

Kim slouched. "The help's more than appreciated, but we're suddenly one big team now?"

"Looks like it," Ron replied.

Yori and Jen had pretty much invited themselves onto the team for the moment. It never came to mind that Ron was the only guy on there, not counting Nev.

Kim sighed. "So much for a nice vacation."

Something else came to Ron's mind. "By the way, Nev, how come you didn't tell us about Jen?"

"Yeah!" Jen remarked as she picked up the remains of her sniper rifle, "How come you never told me about what was going on with Ron's end and why he wasn't dating Kim? That would've saved me a whole lot of trouble!"

Nev let out a sheepish grin. "You guys never asked."

Ron and Jen grunted while grabbing their heads. Just then, a beeping noise could be heard. It wasn't the Kimmunicator, not Ron's little 'Ronnunicator', but it came from Jen's pocket. It was a cell phone, which she tossed in the air and grabbed it.

"Uh huh? Oh, hi dad… Yes… Yes… Yes, I had bacon cheese fries before I went on duty… There's a long story behind that… I know, I know, it's already past midnight and I'm missing Adult Swim… Oh, you are? Great! You're the best… Okay… Wait, what? Okay, some bread, milk, eggs, and flour? Okay, no problem. Good thing they're 24/7. Give me about forty minutes. Okay, bye!"

Kim, Ron and Yori still couldn't believe how quickly she went from one person to another over and over again.

Jen just turned around and smiled. "I wish I could say it was a pleasure to meet you, but I would've preferred we met some other way. My bad! Anyway, my dad wants me to get some groceries and I'm missing my favorite cartoons. So, I guess I'll see you all around. Bye!" She had been walking backward the entire time, then tripped over the edge of the building. Everyone but Nev looked over the edge to see if she was okay, but she was gone.

"That's her exit for you, she always thinks she's going to backflip off the building but she trips instead. Don't worry, she'll be fine, and believe me, she can be trusted. It'll just take some time, you know."

Kim was weirded out by the new girl. "Ooookaaaaaayyyy…. So… What was this you were telling Ron about us 'not being alone in the field'?"

Nev sat down on the edge where he was at. "Did you really think you two were the only teenagers going out and saving the world?"

"Well… I know GJ had a few agents, but… I guess it really never crossed my mind…"

"Well, guess what? GJ isn't the only anti-crime group out there that has teenage agents. There's actually hundreds if not thousands of teens out there saving their cities and countries from anything they consider evil, no matter how light or how hard it is, and there's much more anti-crime cells out there than you can possibly imagine. DNA, Nugal Resistance, Boom Boom Bang Bang…"

Ron almost burst into laughter. "Boom Boom Bang Bang?"

Yori answered. "It's a mistranslation into English. Its original Japanese name properly translated is 'Action and Suspense' which really is not a good name for a crime fighting organization… even by my standards."

"Those were just a few examples," Nev finished.

Kim felt out of the loop. "How come I haven't heard of any of these people? Wait, that makes no sense. I'm a world famous crime-fighting teen hero and I don't have my fingers on the pulse of all this?"

Ron replied, "They keep themselves in the dark so that no one hears of them, just like Jen."

Kim crossed her arms. "You know this and didn't tell me?"

"You… um… never asked, KP."

Kim groaned, but Nev laughed. "Don't worry about it, Kim. I told Ron about this when I made his ninja battle suit. You weren't exactly around at the time."

"Don't remind me, I was fighting a four-armed megalomaniac in a warehouse."

Right then, another beeper went off, this time coming from Nev's direction. He quickly pulled out a small device from inside his trenchcoat.

"It's about time those files downloaded. Besides, I put a few potatoes in the oven before I came over. So I'd better leave before my lab blows up. Toodles!"

After waving, he instantly vanished. No movements, no smoke bombs, nothing. He was just gone. This left Kim, Ron and Yori all alone on the roof, all surprised to what just happened.

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "That guy isn't exactly predictable."

Kim stretched, as if she weren't concerned. "Ron, we've seen just about everything this world has to offer. Gravy ghosts, nano-ticks, a museum made out of cheese, a giant green blob, muscular enhancers, syntho-drones, a talking naked mole rat, our archenemies have blue and green skin, embarrassment ninjas, a plant that causes someone to disappear from reality, a helmet that turns you evil or good, a talking car, female robots, a truth ray, giant cockroaches, ghost monkeys, cafeteria mystery meat, exploding golf balls, flying cars-"

Ron stopped her. "Okay, KP, I get the point. I shouldn't be that surprised, right? But I still am! Who just vanishes like that?"

"The Bebes?"

Ron slapped his head. "Right, and you still don't believe in the supernatural."

Kim shook her head. "It's like an episode of Scooby-Doo, those things aren't real."

Ron had argued this over a hundred times with Kim, so he just gave up. Besides, it wouldn't be good to argue in front of Yori.

Kim put her fingers on her lip, focused on Nev. "Hmm, you can't exactly move at that speed without damaging your muscle tissue."

Ron remembered. "Like the time you had those shoes that made you move too fast?"

"Yeah, I should've known Wade meant something else when he said there were several side effects, but didn't mention killer muscle cramps. I still can't believe I did two weeks of homework in the hospital after that was all over. And Rufus didn't even suffer any side effects, other than not getting the shoes off!"

Yori had been just standing next to the other two the whole time, observing their behavior. Funny enough, even though Ron told her that he was dating Kim, the two were acting the exact same as she last remembered, even though Ron took on a more serious persona. She feared that the two may have been nothing more than a bad make out session, but that was much earlier in the relationship when the two started dating. Kim still had a hard attitude and Ron was still clueless to a lot of things, even though she could quickly see the differences in both. She couldn't help but feel as if her presence was interfering with the two.

"If you two do not mind, I also wish to make my leave."

"Really, Yori? Where are you going to stay?" Ron asked with concern. The thought of Yori sleeping in a dumpster wasn't a pleasant one.

She let out a small giggle as if reading his mind. "Do not worry, Stoppable-san. It seems whoever sent me here also set me up in a nice hotel room on the opposite side of town. I will retreat and rest there for the night. I may also find out some information regarding our situation. If I find out anything, I will let you two know. Thank you for your concern, though."

Ron was speaking in the third person again. "Eh, what can I say? There's enough room in Ron's heart for everyone!" He then shared a look with Kim, as if telling her he didn't mean it in a way she would fear, then turned back to Yori. "Good to know you're already set up and all."

"Good night, you two." With that, Yori leapt into the air and suddenly disappeared.

"See, Kim? _That's_ an escape I can make sense of."

Kim patted the dirt off her shirt. "Well, _that_ wasn't exactly expected. But at least we got some answers. I'm still skeptical of that Jen girl, though."

Kim then walked up to Ron and decided to wipe off the small amount of lipstick off his cheek as lightly as she could. After all, it was the same place Jen whacked Ron earlier. Ron noticed a peculiar look on her face as she did it. It wasn't hostile or tough, but as if she had been hiding some kind of sadness in the curve of her lips.

"You okay, KP?"

"Yeah, but I just realized another thing. Ever since we hooked up just about every other girl has been eyeing you."

"Really? Why couldn't they do that in high school?... I mean, uh, not that that would change things between us, and uh…"

Kim let out a weak giggle. "I understand you, Ron. You get a girlfriend and suddenly everyone wants you."

"Not just any girlfriend, Kim. It's weird, no one paid attention to me before we started going out, and now that we are, it's like everyone's giving me the evil eye. Like in school when I had the muscles and the money, the attention was fine, but its different, it's like I'm now the top of the food chain and have been for the last three months! Now I'm here where everyone knows me and I have no idea why!"

Kim finished rubbing off the lipstick. "It's like the Jos thing backwards. Jen's the first Bay City native who actually knows who _I_ am. Everyone else has just said 'weird last name,' even though last time I checked 'Stoppable' was more or less weirder."

"What can I say, KP? This is like a whole other world. Not that I mind the celebrity status, but some answers wouldn't hurt." He finished with a huge yawn that lasted five seconds.

Kim grabbed his shoulder, "C'mon, sleepy celebrity, we should probably head back to the room. Besides, you might need an ice cube or two on that cheek."

She then quickly turned around and proceeded to the edge, but she stopped when she noticed Ron wasn't following.

"KP? Are you still… jealous?"

Her back was still facing him this time. "It's just that… well… imagine yourself in a position where you meet up with two others and they're both attracted to the one you care about."

"I'm not going to leave you, KP, if that's what you think. I mean, we've been going strong for three months, and we've known each other for how long?"

"And what if something like Thailand happens again?"

Ron let out a worried sigh. "You're really worried about us, aren't you?"

There was a long quiet moment between them.

"I get it, Kim. You still don't trust Yori or Jen because they like me. Anything goes wrong between us and they'll come walking in."

"Honestly, Ron, I really don't know. I can't explain it. I'm telling myself I'm not jealous, but… am I?" Kim had given up denial for some time now that she and Ron were more than just friends. "I just think someone's going to try to change everything we have."

"It wouldn't be the first time, KP. More than ever everyone's doing the whole 'separate the girl and the buffoon' thing. Whatever happens happens and we'll get through it as we always do."

Kim let out a faint chuckle. "Heh, usually I'm the one who says that."

"And usually I'm the one who's worried about situations, but Kim, I'm not worried about _us_ and I don't have any reason to be. Be cool, okay?"

"I guess I'm just worried about everything. Not just us, but who's after you. I just can't crack it, but they can't stay hidden forever."

"_Oh, it gets a bit old…"_

The new voice sent shivers up Kim and Ron's spines, but in reflex they both quickly turned to the right where they heard it.

"_Really, I'm disappointed. You two should have figured out everything by now."_

The mechanical sickly male voice sounded like it came from nearby on the same roof, but Kim and Ron couldn't see anything for the life of them. They both got into defensive stances.

"What kind of method is this?" Kim demanded.

"_Relax, I'm not here to fight."_

"Says you!" Ron barked. "You're the one behind all of this, aren't you?"

"_Again, the buffoon spoils the fun. But if you're going to obsess over spilled milk, yes, it is I who set up Yori against you and killed all members of that crime syndicate. You are both welcome." _He was speaking slowly but seemed to be completely calm.

Both Kim and Ron growled when hearing this, but they easily cooled themselves.

"Don't you think hiding yourself is a little pathetic?" Kim teased with a smile.

"_Don't you think being dependant on Stoppable when saving the world is a little pathetic?"_ the invisible enemy retorted.

A sly smile formed on Kim's face. "So now that you know _so_ much about us," she sarcastically remarked, "How about you tell us a little bit about yourself?"

"_What you see is what you'll get, Kimmie, absolutely nothing."_

Ron leaned his head over to Kim. "He's got you there."

Suddenly, Kim almost leapt in the air and yelped as a finger slid down her neck. It felt like cold steel. Kim quickly turned around but saw nothing.

Ron decided to break in. "So what are you really after?"

"_Oh no, no, no… This isn't about what I'm after. It's about what some other people I know are after."_

"So, you're working with somebody, huh?" Kim guessed.

"_Not what I was referring to, but yes. I suppose you do live up to your name."_

Kim continued. "Lucky guess. So you decided to set Yori against Ron to remove him from the picture or-?"

"_Hardly. So far everything's been going according to plan."_

"Do tell."

"_You see, I like toying around with people, Kimmie. There's no better puppet than that of the human being, and Yori was this week's pick. You see, I planned her attack so that Ferno would get involved and you both would be in a dilemma when you… well, Ron, would find out that Yori was the one under the mask. And just as I anticipated, Yori and Jen were unaware of your dating, and now there's a love square involving Stoppable and you know it. It was entertaining to see such a conflict arise already. Three girls crush over one guy? Cute…"_

Kim groaned. "Another separation attempt? I'm getting tired of these."

"_At this rate I'm sure all your enemies would agree, but they don't. You should know better that this a method to throw you off from the real problem."_

"Which is?"

"_Something that you will have to figure out all by yourself. You'll learn it in time."_

Kim was starting to grow tired of this, especially with an enemy she couldn't see. She quickly pulled out a pair of sunshades from her pocket, but as one would guess, they weren't ordinary.

"_I beg your pardon, Kimmie, but those thermal sunglasses will pick up nothing but static."_

He was right. They were glasses electronically configured to read heat signals, but this time they worked like ordinary glasses with a lot of static.

Kim quickly took them off. "How…? Chaff nearby, right?"

Chaff was good for disrupting computer and electronic equipment, but it was by no means an invisible weapon.

"_You're good."_

"Not so bad yourself…" Kim was constantly turning around to the direction of the voice. It was moving in a circle around them. "So why tell us all of this?"

"_Confusion doesn't allow one to think clearly in any kind of situation. It's not something I would want for when we meet again."_

"What makes you so sure you're going to get away?"

"_What makes you so sure you can stop an enemy you can't see?"_ he mimicked.

Ron chortled to himself, closing his eyes. "Not as hard as you make it out to be, actually."

In a quick and swift movement, Ron performed a few backflips and then released a hard elbow behind him. Somehow, he managed to land his elbow straight into the intruder's gut, somehow making their invisible stranger completely visible. The blow was strong enough to send them back, but not off their feet.

Their now visible enemy got up and wiped the dirt from Ron's shoes off his ninja suit. "Impressive, sloth. Impressive…"

The figure before them appeared no taller than they were, hiding their face with a gas mask. They wore some ninja garb under a leather trenchcoat, and Kim and Ron were able to see that inside he was packed with guns, grenades, swords and shurikens. Under the mask was dirty blonde hair that went down to the neck. Another unfamiliar, standing completely calm.

"'Fight not with your eyesight but with your other senses…' Looks like someone here has had some special training…" More surprising is that he was talking to the two like a friendly conversation over tea.

Kim complimented Ron disregarding their new enemy. "He packs quite a punch, really."

"… but you are not alone, Ron Stoppable…" He didn't even bother with what Kim said. The other two were still in fighting stances, but their enemy refused to give in. "I will not fight you tonight."

"Then I suppose that gives us the advantage!" Ron cried before letting out a battle cry and hurling his body at him.

He dove at his enemy with his elbows thrusted out and moving in a screwdriver motion, but when he was close enough he suddenly got on his feet and attempted to do a backflip kick on his enemy. Ron's opponent had only milliseconds to respond to the sudden move, but in the end, he was holding Ron upside down from his foot.

"Even a child could see that coming." His hoarse breathing didn't help Ron become anymore confident, even if he was already hanging by one foot.

He then threw Ron straight at Kim, who was quick to catch him and put him back on his feet.

"You're telling me that you're the mastermind behind everything that's going on, and you don't want to fight, even though you've pitted Ron in danger?"

The dark culprit did several bizarre movements with his neck, moving his head in all kinds of directions. He was only popping his neck.

Kim's eyes narrowed. "Did you hear what I just said?"

His filtered voice sounded more raspy. "I did. I've only come to provide you two with some clues. It will make things more interesting on each of our ends."

This wasn't the usual villain talk to Kim. Sure, they always wanted to reveal their grand scheme as if it were the inevitable, but this guy was making it sounded like he wanted them to know some of the details, as if helping them. Did he want them to know all this, and why?

"What is it that you're really after? Why did you kill those guys the way you did? Who the heck are you?"

"You'll find out everything when you're ready."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

Ron just sat down. He usually let Kim do the talking here.

The stranger who was hardly intimidated just rubbed the bottom his neck. "You'll be ready when you stop so many questions. Do I appear to be some sort of idiot to you, Kim? I'm not just some attention-seeking drone who wants to take over the world because they can't do anything else in life. I know what questions you're going to ask me, and I'm not going to give you all the answers you desire, just the ones you need for now."

"That doesn't make that much sense, even for a bad guy."

"Just because I'm wearing what I am, you assume that I'm the villain in all this."

"No, it's because you set up a plan trying to screw things up between me and Ron, put his life in danger, and drained the blood out of sixteen old corporate leaders, and the last one is just beyond sick and wrong."

Gas mask was doing nothing more than twisting his head in all kinds of directions. "It was necessary. Too bad you won't find out why."

Both Kim and Ron knew this meant one of three things; Plan to escape, Prepare to fight, or both. Since Kim had been standing in a fighting stance for the last ten minutes, she stretched herself as Ron got up and popped his knuckles.

The two were ready to go.

The stranger in front of them scoffed as if he were disappointed. "For a girl who is so resolute against cheating, you can't even give me a fair one-on-one fight? How harsh."

Kim and Ron didn't move. This guy could've been someone who talked the talk but didn't walk the walk. Not exactly fair, but it something the two couldn't risk.

Gas mask just sighed. "Suit yourself."

Under his trenchcoat and on his belt, he revealed a small plastic electronic device that was no larger than a stack of cards. With the press of a button, a few electrical sparks shielded his body, then he vanished into quick air.

Kim took another lucky guess at what it was. "Optic Camouflage…?"

"_Correct…"_

But for Ron, something was completely different. He could actually 'see' him by making out slight distortions in the lighting and everything else where his body stood. Kim couldn't however, and she made this apparent by moving her head back and forth, as if listening for her enemy, when he stood in the exact same position he disappeared in.

Ron pretended to do the same, pretending to look for his prey, but every step of his led him closer to him.

The question that came to his mind was, how could he see it and not Kim? Why was he able to see it now and not earlier? The plastic cover must've shielded it from chaff as before, but it had to have worn off by now. He could see in his enemy's movements that he was aware of Ron approaching closer. Just when he reached into his pocket to grab something else, Ron went in straight for the kill. Another second and his enemy could've attacked Kim or escaped.

Kim had her share of seeing strange things, but seeing Ron charging at something she couldn't see, being held in the air by the neck, then slammed onto the concrete wasn't one she wanted to remember.

The enemy then shouted as if he were insulted. _"Just because you cannot see me does not mean I cannot see you!"_

Ron, despite having his figure engraved into the concrete, was in the mood to only provoke his opponent more. "That's a nice trick. Is that all you've got?"

Laughter echoed throughout the nighttime rooftops. _"One of many, and believe me, you haven't seen anything quite yet."_

Kim got an idea. All this time the villain never shared their name, but if she was going to get some information, she needed a trick. "Nice tricks for someone with no name. Kinda tacky."

"_Some of the world's best warriors in ancient history and even today have had no names, Kimmie. You should know that more than anyone considering the field that you're in."_

Okay, that didn't work.

"_Only a fool allows their full name to be known to villains. It still surprises me that someone in a giant ship didn't crash it into your houses yet."_

"Now see, that's low," Ron remarked, pulling himself out of the roof's concrete floor.

"_But it would get the job done, and since when do villains play fair? Then again, I suppose it would destroy the fun."_

"Okay, dude, just who are you anyway?" Ron demanded.

"_I suppose I will give you one last clue for everything."_

Five seconds of silence.

"_Dive."_

"Hmm… catchy."

"Ron, eyes on the prize here."

"_And I bid thee farewell for now!"_

Dive had some kind of projectile bomb in his hand and hurled it in front of the two, landing it near their feet. It was another device that released thousands of chaff into the air, but with the distance the metal pieces were at, the two were forced to cover their eyes. It was perfect for an escape, and that's exactly what Dive did. Kim and Ron weren't slow on the issue, jumping onto a nearby building so they could see. But Dive had escaped.

Kim sighed. "So he escaped… This is starting to get so annoying."

Ron put an arm around her. "Kim, it's okay. Now we've got a lead, and we've got some help as well. You know, you've been kinda p'oed all night."

Kim just glared at him, then sighed. He was right and she knew it. "If you know of something that'll cheer me up, send it my way."

Ron chuckled. "Glad you asked."

Without giving Kim a second to interpret that, he swept her off her feet and delivered a hard, passionate kiss on the lips. For Kim, the lights of the city made the feeling much more intense, kind of like a picture. When Ron finally let her go, she could barely stand on her feet. He had to be her support.

Now he was glaring at her. "Kim, you can drop the dizziness act."

"Ooowah Issah episs cohlahooooooooo…" was all Kim could babble.

Ron sighed. "Right, right… I forgot it's not an act."

Shrugging, Ron just picked Kim up, put her body over his shoulder and dove off the roof. He was soon swinging between the buildings with his grappling cords.

Little did both know that Yori was watching them from a higher building. She couldn't help but be disturbed and feel uncomfortable with what she just watched.

"A promise… is a promise…" she told herself.


	9. 08: Engagement

**Chapter 8: Engagement**

_There's a little homage/reference in this chapter. Depending on what goes on your TV screen or monitor, you might be able to pick it up immediately, if not already. See if you can find it._

_

* * *

_

The next morning was a busy one. Just about everyone on the team was doing whatever they could for information.

"Dive." The name given to Kim and Ron from the enemy himself.

Wade and Nev were both busy pretty much hacking into any worldwide database any and everywhere they could to find anything. Yori was inspecting the hotel she was at, such as any equipment that was given to her, who checked her into the hotel, who paid, and so on. Mysteriously, a laptop computer was also given to her with detailed profiles of her 'targets,' which consisted only of Ron, and Kim if she interfered. She allowed Wade and Nev to hack into the computer, but it was clean of any other kind of information. Jen hacked into Bay City's city database to see if she could find anything, even going through all kinds of corporate office systems. She wasn't a techno whiz like Wade or Nev, but she could easily access any information in Bay City that she wanted. Kim and Ron tried to see if they could put a puzzle together with all the information everyone gathered..

Most of this was done through some kind of huge online meeting. Desktop computers on Wade and Nev's side, laptops on Jen and Yori's, and the Kimmunicator on Kim and Ron's end. The screens on all devices were split into five, Kim and Ron sharing one screen.

But they all got the same thing. Nothing.

Jen was just one of the many frustrated at the results. "Hmm, most of the Forefather's assassins I've had to fight and take out have had a lot of bizarre names, but Dive isn't one of them."

"So we're talking about some noob?" Ron asked, who was barely visible on anyone else's screen.

"Probably the other way around, Ron." Wade answered. "When you can't find any information on anyone, it means one of two things: They're new, or they're an expert, and we're probably talking the latter."

"So we have nothing?" Yori asked on her end.

Nev shook his head. "Pretty much. What's even more bizarre is that we've hacked into every computer database in the world and I haven't found anything that may be of use."

Wade rose an eyebrow. "You _have_ been looking for information on this Dive guy and not just hack into every government records computer for the fun of it, right?"

Nev let out a whistle. "I'd prefer the term 'multitasking'. You'd think Japan would be interested in building giant robots and not female companion marionettes that… never mind, going off topic."

Kim was just laying on the bed, putting her Kimmunicator on the phone so that it stood up straight. She had been letting the techno guys and girl talk most of the time. Something then came to her; Everyone had been looking only for the name for the last two or three hours. There was no mention or asking of a physical appearance, no methods of attack, nothing at all. Everyone just went ballistic on a name. That was almost always good enough for a lead, but not this time.

"Wade, got a question. What do you know about optic camouflage technology?"

Typing ensued. "You guys all know it exists, but right now it's only capable of hiding large objects, such as enemy lairs, weapons facilities, planes and such. It can only handle mechanical weapons, like I used with my Wadebot 2.0."

Nev sounded a bit concerned. "That's not entirely accurate…"

Everyone in the chat room focused on him. The tone had an obvious meaning.

Nev sighed. "You've got me. In fact, optic camouflage has been capable of hiding non-mechanical weapons, just like us humans. I'm assuming Dive had some on him, right?"

"He was invisible most of the time." Ron answered.

Nev was silent for a few seconds.

"Nev, what do you know?" Wade demanded. "Don't tell me you had anything to do with its creation…"

"No, but it's a bit of a long story. You see, a few months ago I kind of heard about it on a message board that some scientist in Alaska managed to create some kind of optic camouflage, but it was a cloaking device, unlike the other known camouflage technologies we know of. I didn't believe it, but when I saw the pictures I knew it wasn't just some picture mod with a graphics program. He was looking for a couple of testers. Many people wanted one, I wanted two, but he sure wasn't offering them for free."

Wade didn't understand. "Wait, this guy was offering prototypes of what could be a top-secret weapon… on a message board?"

"No, the only way to find this board and post in it all requires the best hacking. More top secret than the government computers I've gone into."

"So what'd you pay with?" Ron wondered.

"My entire anime collection. I was a bit huge on anime when I was a kid, probably four to six years old, but I lost interest quick when DBZ somehow made its way into my collection. Haven't really been interested in the whole anime scene since. I like the classics, but a lot of the new stuff on TV… kinda sucks. Now I just stick to regular American cartoons. If only shows like Megas XLR weren't cancelled by the creators…"

"Couldn't that guy just buy that old stuff on DVD?" Jen thought.

"No. This was some of the old stuff that you probably never hear of anymore and _aren't_ on DVDs. Needless to say, when I showed him all the tapes I had, we were in business. I suppose I had everything he didn't. Weird."

"And?" Kim asked.

"Two stealth cloaks arrived in the mail about… seven weeks later. They worked _perfectly_. You know how it's believed that we only see anything because of the way light reflects off of objects? Colors, textures, everything?"

Ron shook his head. "I never understood that concept."

Nev chuckled. "Well, neither did I, but this thing proved it. You see, what this does is manipulate light rays so that every single one 'goes through' you. Because the light doesn't reflect off of you, it renders you virtually invisible. Crappy explanation, I know."

"I think I get it…" Kim took a while to think about all of it. "Let me guess, that's what you used to leave last night, right? That's the only way you can escape so fast without damaging your muscle tissue."

"Exactly! The deal wasn't made too long ago, so I actually got these five months back, I think."

"What happened to the other one?"

His tone quickly changed to disgust. "Val stole it. You remember when he, well, you know?"

"Kidnapped me? Yeah. I-"

Kim had an instant flashback there.

* * *

_"Awaken, Kimberly Anne..." _

The ominous and deep voice echoed throughout the bright white room. Kim could hear Val's voice, but she couldn't see him at all. She couldn't move any of her limbs, pinned against the wall. As the blinding light died down, she was able to observe the room that she was suspended in. It was white steel metal with various lights surrounding the entire dome-shaped room, and Kim was suspended 20 feet on the wall by giant metal donuts that must have weighed a ton each. She wasn't able to move a muscle, but oddly enough it didn't cut off her blood circulation or affect her muscles in her legs and arms.

Shivers went through her spine as something cold touched the bottom of her face. It felt metallic, and even though she knew exactly where it was coming from, she couldn't see it.

_"You make it seem like stealth cloaking technology isn't in existence."_

Kim knew where the voice was coming from but couldn't see it. Valia slowly appeared before her as his cloaking device turned off, revealing that his left metallic hand was studying her face.

* * *

Kim realized she was more aware of the stealth cloak than she realized, but then saw a connection. "Wait a minute, you're not saying… I know this is going to sound dumb, but if he has the other one, you don't suppose he and Dive are…" 

"The same person?" Nev almost laughed. "I'm sorry, Kim, but the police and autopsy reports confirmed that he's dead, gone, over, kaput. I know you don't like to talk about it or believe it because you're no killer, but you have to get over the fact that he allowed himself to die."

Wade asked a question he knew and feared the answer to. "So how did Val get his hands on it?"

"The battle suit he stole also had one of the stealth cloaks built onto it. Because the suit, if you remember correctly, was originally designed for extreme defensive measures and situations, the cloaking was added on as a last resort so that it would render you invisible. Heck, I increased my chances of being hunted down when I got this thing."

"That explains why Val had it…" Ron analyzed.

"Oh, but it's not perfect, however. Because it relies heavily on light rays, if you were to bump into someone while wearing it, it becomes easy to see the distortions in the air that resemble the human body. Thus, cover blown. That's why I don't wear it at the airport here or in public. Also, if the wind blows it off, you're screwed, too. Not bad in rain and in quiet movements, though."

Jen understood everything. "So you have one, and it's safe to assume the other one was destroyed when Val's lair collapsed on him."

Ron intervened. "Or when KP put that electromagnet thing in his back and destroyed the suit."

Kim lowered her eyes. "I doubt it would've gotten out in one piece if Val didn't."

Val was an extremely touchy subject for Kim. He was a ruthless villain almost overpowered with his martial arts abilities, definitely high on the angst level, but Kim alone saw some kind of soft side and wanted to expose it. She could never explain why she felt the need to, but perhaps she felt sympathy for him. If she knew how to explain it, the term would be 'Misunderstood'. But Val saw exactly what she was doing and used it against her. Even so, it didn't stop him from doing what he did to Kim, Ron and ultimately, himself. Kim and Nev went to the funeral, so they knew, even if the coffin was without a body.

He was dead, probably the first of Kim's human villains to die, and that was that. The act actually scared away more of Kim's usual villains than when Drakken and Shego were sent to jail, and for a while it tarnished Kim's image. You see her on TV knocking Shego into a tower nearly killing her if not for her supernatural abilities, then the next villain allows his underwater lair to collapse on him. Oh, the talks she had with her parents when that was over.

Kim continued. "So Nev, who was this guy, anyway - The one who sold you the stealth cloaks?"

"Never knew his real name, honestly. Don't even remember who he worked for. I guess I was too psyched at the time about getting it than who it was from. Not exactly a wise moment, I suppose. Never heard from him again after sending out the prototypes. My guess? Word got out and he managed to erase his existence off the net. Not really that hard, actually. He called himself…. Otaku something…"

"Otaku?" Jen was familiar with the word but couldn't put her finger on it.

"People obsessed with anime, video games and computers. Usually collectors or enthusiasts of them."

"Oh, right, right."

"Wait a minute, I forgot, it came with a note… 'Thanks a bunch for the collection! Enjoy!' signed by… Hal."

Yori started talking. "Is it a possibility that another person was also given the same cloaking technology?"

Nev shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea."

It took Wade a while to gather it all in. "So we know that optic camouflage exists to hide a human form. In the wrong hands that could be bad… But Nev, you're also an expert in hardware technology. Haven't you figured out how to make these?"

"Well, for one, I'm not particularly in favor of ripping off someone else's technology. Second, I've tried anyway and I have no idea how the guy did any of this. We're talking extreme heavy duty stuff. This thing makes me feel like a newborn trying to write a book on the connection between The Flux Capacitor and _The Da Vinci Code_. And before you say anything there's none I know of other than the last word of both start with a 'C'. Just an example."

"Were there any other details on Dive, Possible-san? Right now we only know of his name."

Wade leaned back on his chair. "Usually the one thing we need."

Kim took a moment to reminisce on last night's confrontation. "Hmm… He wore a gas mask, had blonde hair in a mullet, a trenchcoat, but wasn't really any taller than me and Ron. I know he kinda spoke slowly too."

Ron shook his head. "Didn't give us much of a fight, either. He was all about defense."

Kim tried to think, "I still don't get it. This guy confesses that he put Yori under mind control to attack Ron, that he was the one who took out the Forefathers, and has something else planned. Why would he tell us so many details and leave out just as much?"

Jen was quick to answer. "Sounds like he enjoys toying with you more than he is focused on his real plan, but yeah, I know what you mean completely. Why share only half the details? Most baddies hide or reveal everything. Well, I'd hate to be a buzzkill for the moment, but I really, really need to eat."

Nev agreed. "I should as well, and I should really set up a system that tells me I haven't eaten for almost…" He paused to look at his watch, "… Ten hours. Dang. That's research for ya. Well, see you all later."

The two waved and then cut off. The screen was now split in three. Wade, Yori, and Team Possible.

Yori was the first to speak. "I was not aware such technology already existed."

"Kim, I don't want to bring up touchy subjects," Wade warned, "But you said Val wore stealth camouflage when he took you into his lair?"

"Yeah. He actually didn't use it against us. He was more focused on pitting me and Ron into a death match, then fought us with mechanical legs and we barely survived that one. I didn't tell you this?"

Wade shook his head. "You two were in the hospital, went on a date when you got out that night, but after that you two were pushing yourselves hard to graduate on time. Right after that, Ron went back to Yamanuchi to finish his training, and he came back the same day of Val's funeral. Then you two were busy early in the summer. You had the Ice Shadows to deal with, and after that you had some of the worst culprits to confront and capture. It sounds like we're dealing with another one."

Yori was carefully listening in, as this was all news to her. "I don't mean to intrude on your business, but who is this 'Val'? Something about this sounds really familiar."

Ron answered it for her. "The first guy we had to fight after… well, KP and I got together. The Monday after Prom, we tried to stop a jewel heist at the bank, and he was the guy. We got schooled… bad. That's also how we met Nev, since he knew who the guy was and offered to help. Val then broke into a GJ weapons factory and stole some top secret weapons, but that time he was the one who got schooled."

Kim pitched in. "But before that, he managed to put Ron under mind control and tried to make him kill me. It wasn't going to be the last time. Later, he called me out alone and I went into an abandoned warehouse, but I lost that fight. Not that it was fair, since we were both armed with battle suits and he had two extra arms to help him out. I don't remember the details well after that, though."

Ron continued the story. "Since he wanted Kim alone, I couldn't just sit back and watch. I decided to get my own battle suit made by Nev. He put Kim under mind control and now she fought me, and won. Nothing happened a week after that happened, and I realized even if I found them, I wouldn't be able to take Val down. That's when I went back to Yamanuchi… Sensei told me you were on some kind of errand."

Yori nodded. "Yes, that's what I asked him to say. I was actually helping a fellow Yamanuchi graduate set up his own ninja school on the nearby islands."

Kim continued. "Val had taken me to his underwater dome and kept me there for about three weeks. Ron came to save me, but Val took him down. Then he put both of us under mind control, but Rufus helped us out… who's still sleeping on the other bed… but once we snapped out of it, we took him on, and after a long fight, we won, but barely."

Ron took it upon himself to end the story. "We were all beaten, and he decided to blow up his lair. He wanted KP and I to escape, but he refused to follow. You know, he was pretty evil until we took him out, but it was weird. I wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. KP and I were found later on the shore and taken to the hospital to recover, as for Val…"

Yori guessed. "He did not survive. Yes, I remember him now."

Kim and Ron blinked a few times when they heard this.

Yori continued. "He was once a fellow student of Yamanuchi ten years ago. It was about the time I joined. Sensei spoke of him when I came back to the school to help him clean it up for the summer."

Kim had to know. "_Valia… Erocus… Ryan…?_ You're sure…"

Wade knew what to do here. He went into the GJ database and pulled up Val's profile for Yori to see. A detailed picture of the said villain was shown accompanied by some biographical information.

_Name: Valia Erocus Ryan  
Age: 18  
Gender: Male  
Height: 165  
Weight: Unknown  
IQ: 175  
Blood Type: O  
Family: Parents Unknown, raised by Grandfather - Deceased  
Race: Caucasian  
Primary Method of Attack: Hand-to-Hand Combat  
Has a scar that covers his forehead and left eye  
Trained in several styles of martial arts from around the world  
Fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian  
Weapons Experience: High  
Military Experience: High  
Expert in stealth, thievery, close combat weaponry, biophysics and chemistry, biomechanical studies  
Graduated from Upperton High School with a 4.2 GPA  
Missing left hand - Reason unknown  
Deceased_

Yori nodded. "Yes, that's him. Former student of Yamanuchi, one of Sensei's best students."

This was actually the first time Kim and Ron had actually seen his official profile, and most of the details revealed were brand new to them.

It took a while for Ron to take it in. "So… how come he didn't stay there like you did?"

Yori shrugged her shoulders. "A student decides how long they need to stay. I believe Ryan-kun was more concerned with studying all styles performed around the world, so he only stayed for a year. Also, he learned techniques much quicker than any other student, including me. In fact, he was one of my usual sparring partners. When Sensei told me that his soul turned dark, I was rather surprised. In the past, he was much different; He was determined and confident, but he was really nice. Often he would throw in a few jokes as we sparred, but he always made sure I was never injured. He also helped students who couldn't understand a move or technique. But something doesn't make sense in all of this."

"And what would that be?" Kim asked, curious.

"When Sensei told me about him when I returned… He said Ryan-kun had returned to the school recently, and that he was forced to end his life."

Both Kim and Ron were appalled. "What?" The news reports in Upperton confirmed they found a body two weeks later and had a positive ID.

Yori hung her head low. "Sensei did not believe I was ready to hear the details, but only told me that Ryan-kun came to the school demanding training. Not only was he not physically capable, as he had various wounds all over his body, his left hand was missing, and his eyes were full of the most extreme hate and anger. Sensei had to decline his request because he only trains those with the pure of heart, and Ryan-kun attacked him. He did not want me to know any more than that."

Ron still couldn't believe it. "Okay, _when_ did _this_ happen?"

"Sensei told me it was shortly after you left the first time to save Possible-san..."

Kim held her forehead. "First, the news says they found his body and confirmed it, and now we find out he died some other way? Wade, can you confirm this?"

Wade had an uncomfortable look on his face. "As much as I'd hate to say it, Kim, how Val died isn't important right now. We have a bigger situation here."

"Right, right. Sorry about that."

"I too am confused, Possible-san, but I refuse to believe that Sensei would lie about anything. But either way, he is gone. Your friend is right, there are other important matters here."

They all came to an agreement there.

"Well, if you two do not mind, I should take my leave as well. I have not found out anything else concerning this matter and I wish to continue my own research."

"It's cool, Yori." Ron assured her. "You take it easy."

"You too."

Yori then cut her communication. The chat room closed, leaving Kim and Ron in the hotel room with Wade on the Kimmunicator.

"_I just realized something…"_ Wade offered, "_You don't suppose this Dive guy just made up his name right there and then?"_

Kim rubbed her eyes. Looking at so much on a small screen really isn't easy on the eyes.

"If he did, it would be the first time. That's probably why he didn't give us a name immediately."

"_There's something else, Kim."_

"What is it?"

"_You two… How do I say this… You guys remember your culprit in Thailand, Fred Elurt, right?"_

The two avoided eye contact, but Kim kept her eyes on Wade. "Hard to forget. Why?"

"_Looks like he's on his way over here to Bay City."_

Kim paused for a second. "Why? What's he got to do here?"

"_I was hoping you had some light to shed on that."_

Ron remembered something. "Kim, didn't Dive say he was working with someone else?"

"_That's it! It makes perfect sense, too!"_

"Wait, you mean you think Dive is working with Elurt?"

"_Frederick Elurt's profile lists him as an expert of economic studies and business practices, actually creating at least twenty businesses before he turned into a weapons dealer. They were all sold at high prices, but they're very popular near India, the Indian Ocean and the Philippines."_

"I see. So you think he's the one who sent Dive after the Forefathers?"

"_Right. He takes out the high powers, and already an expert in business and the economy…"_

"Then everyone will go to him and him alone for any information or help they need, the one expert in how to do any and everything. Why hire someone in another country when you have someone in the same city?"

Ron joined in. "He'll take over the whole city…"

"_The most powerful city in America right now…"_

"… and Bueno Nacho!" Ron finished. "I can't let that guy own the city where Bueno Nacho HQ is!"

"Good thing we caught onto it."

"_It looks like he's not coming alone. His hands are also coming over to join the party. I suppose I don't have to ask you if you're going to go in after him."_

Kim tilted her head with a smile. "Of course. So any idea where he's landing?"

"_Definitely not the airport. He's got a private helicopter, so it's safe to assume he's going somewhere else."_

"That landing pad where we fought Yori?"

"_No. There's another landing pad on top of the tallest building in the city: The Imperial Outpost Building. It's an empty building, oddly enough, but many people use its facilities. It's got some kind of historical value to it, and it's in the very center of the city. I got some information from Jen about the city, and she says any and every bad guy that comes here always lands there."_

Ron put a hand over his fist. "We'll take him by surprise."

"_Not a good idea, Ron. It looks like he'll be landing on the roof of that building, but his hands aren't coming on the same plane."_

Ron crossed his arms. "Oh, I see. They're the ones coming by regular passenger plane, and they're going to secure the roof for his arrival."

"_Exactly. Both planes took off earlier this morning."_

Kim looked at her watch. 12:46 PM. "How long do we have?"

"_My guess is seven to eight hours. You also have to consider the time zone differences."_

Kim had let out a huge yawn, then looked at the time. "It's nearly one, and we haven't eaten all morning."

Ron got ecstatic. "Ooh! Ooh! I call dibs on breakfast!"

Rufus instantly woke up. "Mmhmm!"

Wade laughed. _"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone to eat, then. I'll contact you if I find anything on Elurt or Dive."_

"Please and thank you, Wade."

Kim turned off her Kimmunicator, giggling at the sight of Ron getting all excited for breakfast, or probably lunch considering the time. "Well, here we go again. Where to this time?"

Ron pulled out his brochure from the airport with the map on it, "You know, there was this one place I thought _you'd_ like…"

"Really?"

"I saw it when I first arrived, but I remembered it just now. Kinda fancy, maybe a little expensive, but the smell of the food was pretty high caliber."

"Sure, we can do that."

"Booyah!"

Kim soon found herself being squeezed by Ron's arms, but because it was one of those moments, she hugged him back, and both were tempted to relive last night's experience for the heck of it. Unfortunately, both of their noses twitched in the embrace, having embarrassment written all over their faces as they released each other.

Kim quietly whispered, "You should take a shower first."

Ron also whispered, "You too."

The two actually hadn't showered since their fight last night. Rufus was giggling the entire time.

* * *

Bay City, 9:57 PM 

The weather had drastically changed by this time. While Kim and Ron enjoyed lunch and dinner with clear skies, the clouds soon made their way into the city, and a fierce rainstorm now consumed the entire city. Winds were strong, rain pounded on windows like rocks, and almost all of the airport's outgoing flights were cancelled. Anyone would be crazy to fly anything in this weather.

That didn't stop one visitor.

The rooftop of the Imperial Outpost Building - the tallest building in the center of the city with 105 floors - looked no different than any other rooftop. There were a few energy tanks, a small building that had the elevators and stairs in them, and tonight, a total of sixteen men, women, boys and girls were standing perfectly still in the harsh rain that was trying to rip their skin wide open. They all stood perfectly still, arms all behind their backs, heads down with their eyes barely open.

They had actually been standing there for over three hours, ignoring the lighting and thunder as well as everything else the storm had to throw at them. They all waited patiently.

A helicopter's engine and blades could soon be heard through the ravenous storm, faintly, but in minutes it was close. Finally, it decided to take its landing in the middle of the rooftop, the landing gear only a couple of yards away from each of Elurt's hands. They didn't concern themselves with the force and winds of the blades, or that they shot water all over the air. They were going to be completely still no matter what.

The helicopter started to rise off the ground shortly after it came to a full landing, allowing a tall man in a dark cloak to jump off the helicopter and firmly onto his feet. The large transportation vehicle then flew and faded away into the dark storm.

The one figure on the center of the rooftop then made his way to the stairway, now being followed by his sixteen henchmen. They had all walked all the way down to the 100th floor, a large and empty floor, providing an excellent view of the entire city on every side with windows replacing the walls. It was a circular shaped room with a few glass and steel podiums outlining the area. It was all one giant observation deck, but some leftover equipment made it apparent that some people used the floor to provide presentations. There were a few tables, seats and projectors scattered in one area.

Elurt finally opened the doors and made way to the window across from him. His Hands were quick to cover him every step of the way, then scattered when their boss stopped. He took off his soaked cloak, finally revealing himself. He looked no different than he did when he was in Thailand, appearing to be completely unaffected by the rain.

The huge six-foot-five blonde man looked almost possessed as he looked onto the city, putting his right hand against the window.

"Would you look at all that? Such a beautiful city… so much power… so much life… so much energy. Soon, all of it will be mine for the taking… everything…"

One of his bodyguards, a blonde teenager who looked like an ordinary pretty-boy walked up behind Elurt and held out an envelope. "Lord…"

Elurt quietly took the envelope and opened it up. He started laughing when he saw its contents. It was a newspaper article reporting on the sixteen deaths of the Forefathers. Some shot, some cut, some stabbed, one even shot with an arrow, one with a syringe on his neck, and so on, all with what appeared to be a mark of an assassin on each of their foreheads. No suspects had been named, though.

"Looks like our boy wasn't BSing us after all… My, my, such dreadful tactics and methods. Delicious…"

Elurt then threw the envelope on the floor and turned around to address all his bodyguards.

"The first phase of our operation is completed! Our new boy did exactly as instructed and succeeded in every way. We now move onto our second phase."

He had his bodyguard's full attention, as they had not been briefed about the 'second phase.' However, Elurt noticed a security camera high above the room, and it was on him like a hawk. He smirked before he began.

"Here is what will happen. I have received word that yesterday afternoon, you all received your new weapons from our boy. There should be four in total. What you will do is team up in teams of four, all depending on your rank and techniques. You will fly out via private jet to the four most crucial areas of the world and plant one weapon underground. Each of the four areas is determined by various… special traits they possess. Economy, population, tourism, and weather. You will all meet up with our boy soon and he will inform you on the exact locations. He will explain the rest to you in detail. Any questions?"

The room was silent, but Elurt noticed that nearby, a hand shadow of a duck was being made. It quickly went away.

Elurt cleared his throat. "If you all do not mind, I wish for some alone time."

The room turned dark on the ends and the bodyguards slipped into the darkness. Again he put his hand on the window and gazed upon the rainy futuristic city.

Fred Elurt is what many would like to call obsessive. Here's a man with a lot of money, power, and the best bodyguards in the business. He almost always got whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. All of his life he went out of his way to achieve something, and he rarely ever failed, but always desired something higher. It always started small, and it got bigger, and bigger, and bigger. He became obsessed with power… and control.

Nothing was more higher on the list than Bay City. No, perhaps more. Fred Elurt wanted to control the world. He almost moaned at the thought of the city being in his hands.

High behind him, little did he know that he was being watched. The two dark figures were lowering themselves by rope. The room was not only wide, but it was tall. It must have been fifty feet wide and forty feet tall. They had been quietly lowering themselves ever since he entered the room, but now that it was completely dark and Elurt was all alone, they could make their move.

Unfortunately, one of them had the rope attached to his pants, and when they were close enough, he suddenly slipped out of them and was sent straight into the floor below, all of his equipment scattering everywhere upon impact. His partner released her rope and landed firmly on her feet, helping him up.

Elurt didn't seem to be surprised by this, quietly turning around. "It's good to see you two again, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable."

Kim patted the dirt off of Ron's back. "Look, Ron, he remembers your name."

Ron took off his mask, looking disappointed. "Doesn't matter, that was a lame entrance and he already knows who we are." He took the moment to see the pants of his stealth suit hang on the rope above. At least it didn't take off his cargo pants. Under his stealth suit he was wearing his mission gear.

Kim then took off her mask and stealth suit, revealing her mission garb. "So, you knew we were already here. I told you that hand puppet was going to blow our cover, Ron."

Elurt laughed. "Please. With my faithful bodyguards in the area, there was no way in hell you would have been able to sneak up on me even if that didn't happen."

The very mention of them had them coming. They all came out of the shadows armed with automatic machine guns and were advancing towards Kim and Ron. They had the area surrounded, leaving an equal distance in between all of them that narrowed as they came closer. Soon, there was no room for escape.

Ron wasn't a fan of being at gunpoint from sixteen guns, but tried to keep his cool. "So what do we do now, KP?"

Her back was against Ron's. "We just wait for now."

Kim had a good feeling that Elurt was going to boast and brag, and she was correct. Elurt stood behind two of his bodyguards, placing a hand on one of their shoulders like family members.

"You two really believed you were capable of stopping me, didn't you? You see kids, these are the best in the business. They all know how to operate any kind of weapon given to them even if it's not intended to be a weapon. They know how to control any vehicle, infiltrate anyplace you want them to, they know how to take out any and everyone you can just think of, they can never be seen, and best of all, they are completely loyal. If my life has taught me anything, it's that the best things it has to offer can be brought with money."

"_zzzzz…"_

Ron was actually asleep when Elurt was finished, but Kim shoved her shoulder against him and woke him before Elurt noticed.

"It astonishes me. They send a couple of children to stop me, but you see, I am not alone."

Kim chose to talk. "First of all, what's your connection to Dive?"

Elurt scoffed. "Dive? What on earth are you talking about? Ridiculous, the ones they send have no idea who they were sent after!"

'_Perhaps he didn't give him that name…'_ Kim thought.

"How about 'your boy'?" Ron demanded as if reading Kim's mind. "We know he's the one who killed all those Forefather guys."

Elurt looked surprised. "I stand corrected. I suppose you two are not as stupid as you let off. Well, since we're asking questions, how about another one?"

"Your operation, scheme of things?" Kim requested.

Elurt looked at the ceiling high above and raised his hands and high as he could. "What else? Take over the world!"

Kim gave Ron a light nudge. "You know that talk we had about growing up?" she whispered. "Forget I said anything."

Ron shook his head. "Okay, dude, that was pretty corny. You see, the lighting's all off. You only do the dramatic stance when there's not too much light in the room. Gives it the dramati-"

The female bodyguard standing in front of Ron pushed the barrel of the gun straight into his forehead.

"I think I'll just shut up now."

"Wise idea…" Elurt hissed. He then focused on Kim again, grabbing her jaw to look at her face. "It's such a shame this is your last night on earth, Miss Possible. So young, so energetic, shame that someone of your natural beauty must die tonight."

Kim didn't know what was more disturbing, the aftershave and sweat on his hand or the way he was talking to her.

"You're not the one who's going to tell me when my life ends," she retorted.

Elurt tossed her jaw against her side, almost throwing her off her feet, but Ron grabbed her other shoulder to keep her on her feet..

The huge man turned around to look out the window again. "Cute, Miss Possible. Cute. But we are never the masters of our destinies. Someone always comes along and interferes and ruins the party. That is not going to happen tonight, little missy. You see, I am not the usual breed of villains, Miss Possible,"

'_That's what they all say,'_ both Kim and Ron thought.

"… If someone dares to get in my way, I will simply have them taken out. No questions asked, no mercy, none of that. Get in my way and you shall die. Most people don't realize that's their logic of life as well." Elurt then raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

His bodyguards slowly backed away from Team Possible with their guns still aimed at them.

The old man continued to laugh more. "Tell me, how do you propose you get out of this one?"

Ron didn't have a flash grenade on him, nor Kim, but even if they did, they wouldn't have had time to pull the needle, throw it and wait for it to go off. They would've been shot and obliterated right there and then.

Instead, Ron chuckled with a confident smirk. "Same as we usually do in a situation like this. Rufus! Lights!"

The naked mole rat was actually in an air vent in the ceiling, close to the wires that controlled the lights. He could hear Ron loud and clear, and sunk his teen straight into them. In an instant, the room went completely dark. Because they were on a high floor, the nearby buildings did not give the room any light. Other than the darkness of the storm outside, there was nothing but pitch black darkness.

"A stupid move on your account, Team Possible!" Elurt cried. "The darkness only gives _us_ the advantage and allows _us_ for a perfect escape! Come, my hands! You all know what to do!"

"Right!"

Kim and Ron were taken completely off guard. It was never often that an enemy took advantage of a move on their part. They were hoping they would be able to escape, but not their enemies! The two were just as blind as everyone else in the room, not able to see anyone make a move to escape. The room was soon lit by an alternative power source, but it was completely empty. Elurt and his Hands had made a perfect escape with no traces whatsoever.

"Where'd they go?"

"They escaped," a third voice confirmed.

Kim and Ron quickly turned to the entrance of the room.

Kim let out a smile, not one that had a lot of trust in it. "Jen. Not surprised to see you here."

Jen approached as Rufus ran to Ron and got on top of his shoulder.

"Sorry," the naked mole rat apologized.

Ron petted Rufus with a finger. "No big, Rufus. You did what we asked, and it wasn't like we got hurt or anything."

Jen took note of the ropes Kim and Ron came in on. "Look on the bright side, now we've got even more information. The old man's involved, and they plan to do something at those four locations."

Ron narrowed his eyes. "How'd you hear all that?"

Jen let out a goofy smile. "Eh, stood out by the doorway. None of his Hands actually closed the door, ya know."

Ron briefly covered his face. "So now what? Find out what those weapons are and go out to destroy them?"

"Not alone," Jen quickly remarked. "Four against two, they'll completely slaughter you."

"And how do you know this?" Kim skeptically asked.

Jen held up a disk. "This disk contains all the information you need on each and every one of their skills. Stats, records and everything are included. He wasn't BSing when he bragged about what they were capable of. Believe me, a _lot_ has changed since the last time you met."

Before Kim could grab it, Jen pulled it back.

"I can't let you see this right now, though."

The move took Kim by surprise. "And why's that?"

"I can't trust people who can't trust me."

The room was quiet for a few seconds before Kim opened her mouth. "Is it that obvious?"

Jen, Ron and Rufus nodded their heads, but Jen just shrugged like she could care less, "I suppose I gotta prove myself."

Ron looked at her for a second, "How do you suppose you do that, take us to Bueno Nacho and see how those test combos are coming out?"

Jen laughed, "Nice try, mister, but not yet. You guys haven't eaten yet, right?"

The two shook their heads.

"Well, let me take you two out to eat, and before Ronshine here says Bueno Nacho, there is one place I've heard a lot about but never really took the time to head there. Follow me."

Jen turned around and headed straight for the elevator. Ron was quick to follow, but Kim took her time. Then again, she had to learn to trust Jen if she wanted to see what was on that disk.

* * *

She had led them to the only fancy restaurant in town open until midnight. It was about 10:30 when they got there, and Jen covered the meal, not that Kim and Ron were broke with her dad covering the trip. But she already ordered the entire meal by the time they sat down, and it arrived shortly after (amazingly). 

Two large pizzas, but they were cooked to perfection and full of flavor. Just by looking at it, they could tell this was AAA-quality food, all of them almost salivating over it, even Kim. Jen was the first to eat, but what she did took the other two off guard.

She grabbed an entire pizza and devoured it in one go. After sucking down a lemonade, she let out a huge belch that echoed throughout the entire restaurant. Kim and Ron didn't even realize their hair was all spoofed out.

Jen let out a sheepish smile. "Heh, I suppose I got carried away, huh?"

Ron couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Wow, that was crazy!" His tone indicated that he was complimenting her.

She gave him an evil look. "Think you can top that, Ron?"

The pizza was actually more bigger than it looked, but Ron came up with the perfect excuse.

"And not let KP have any? Phshaw, no way."

The two then took the first piece of theirs, three if you include Rufus. The second it met their tongues, they practically melted, almost losing themselves.

Ron spoke with his mouth full. "Wow…dif ifsh derihfish!"

Kim agreed. "Foooo good!"

Jen laughed. "You two sound funny with your mouth full."

The two continued to enjoy their pizza while Jen ordered another lemonade for herself.

"So… why?" Kim asked.

"Why what?"

"Why take us out to eat?"

Jen modestly shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't think you guys would trust me so easily, not with attacking Yori with a sniper rifle and doing what I did to Ron. Probably the worst way I met anyone who wasn't an enemy."

Kim agreed but said nothing.

"Honestly, Ron's cute and all, but I like someone else." Something Jen _shouldn't_ have said.

Ron and Kim now had curiosity in their eyes. "Ooooh, someone we know?" Kim asked with a sly tone in her voice.

Jen turned red. "Even if you did, I wouldn't tell you! I keep my secrets hidden!"

Ron wasn't convinced. "Sure you do…"

Now Jen had a uncomfortable look on her face, but there was a hint of malice in it. "I don't feel comfortable on the subject, can we please drop it?"

The two were well aware of the tone and what it meant, so they did.

"Sorry, but things like that, not cool."

"So it's safe to assume you're not interested in Ron anymore." Kim pretty much confirmed any type of jealousy she felt.

"Like I said, it was only a thank-you. I wait at least two months before asking to date someone."

Ron nodded his head. "Cool, cool."

"So, Jen…" Kim started out, "How long have you been doing… you know, what you've been doing?"

Jen laid back and put her feet up. "Well…"

A long night was ahead for everyone.


	10. 09: Association

**Chapter 9: Association**

_There's a lot of personal notes in this one that might throw some people off, all for the sake of humor. Don't take it seriously._

_I should also thank everyone for reviewing and reading. To answer charizardag's question, don't know. Sometimes silence is a compliment, but I'm not going to let lack of reviews stop me. I have a story I feel the need to write and finish. I'm just uploading for the heck of it. What can I say? Some people might not like long, deep and dark stories. Not everyone reviews. That's fine. This story won't be done until I write the conclusion. I'm the same way: Sometimes I write a review, sometimes I don't. Doesn't mean I don't read it or dislike it. Reviews aren't only for saying you like the story, IMO.  
_

_ Also, I have read KP fans opinions on fanfics, and mine, both this and The Sociopath Episode, fall into categories people **hate**. People don't like violence, they don't like language, they don't like it when characters that aren't the main characters play an important role (even though the show does it a lot), they don't like a lot of drama or angst, they don't like overpowered villians who seem like they're impossible to stop. They also don't like it when our heroes appear weak.  
_

_Really, people don't like things they don't see in the show. But as my profile says, I'm a genre-bender. The stories I write are nothing but experiments. I wrote the last story because I wondered: What if there was at least one villian who was deep, dark, overpowered, and extremely deadly? All of the villians are comical, but what if there was one who wasn't? And what if that villian was no older than Kim and Ron? I designed both Val and Nev to share experiences I did, but exaggerated. Valia was also designed as a counter for Disney's main slogan: (Insert main character) here is just like you! Why not a villian?I also wondered what it would be like if Kim and Ron were forced against their own will to fight to the death, but it's not like everyone dies. Even the creators admit So the Drama was a dark 'episode' in the series, and I was curious whether things would only get darker from there. Also, one of the things I like about KP is that the characters have their personalities, and even though you know everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, you don't see it in the highest detail. That's another thing I wanted to experiment with: Character's thoughts and emotions._

_Just a 'What if'? Not much different than any other fanfic here.  
_

_I'll admit, both stories take more of a realistic stretch, but I don't think it's overdone to the point where it's boring. It's different. Some people may like it, others may not. Heck, I've gotten much, much more hits on my last story since I uploaded the first four chapters._

_Speaking of my first story, I've made some fanart of it for any other readers. _

_SestrenNK. Deviantart. com (don't copy and paste)  
_

_I plan to do some fanart of this story, too, regardless of its popularity. I don't write stories to make everyone happy and make them read what they want to read. I write something because it's a story in my head that doesn't want to leave my mind until it's documented somehow._

_Another thing, the story **will **surpass 100,000 words. Sometimes long stories scare me too. But I'm more of a computer graphics guy and a drawer than a writer, anyway. _

_Now enough babble and let's continue. We last left off with Jen taking Kim and Ron out to eat...  
_

_

* * *

_

Jen pretty much had to explain herself entirely from day one. Her family consisted only of her and her dad, since her mom died in childbirth, but Ben gave her all the love and support he could to raise her. The only problem he made was exposing her to a lot of violent movies, not realizing it, and she wanted to grow up to be an action hero or something. So she did whatever she could, taking martial arts classes and becoming a black belt in whatever she could find (Jujitsu, Judo, Ensei-ken and Tae Kwon Do). She even requested to go to a military school and wouldn't let her dad sleep until he said yes. The drill sergeant actually had a soft spot for her since every other person her age already had problems with the law. She also took weapons training when she got a license at sixteen, and that's when she started doing her vigilante work, but kept herself low. Her dad was skeptical at first, but when crime died down in the area (somewhere in Colorado), he approved. A week after she graduated, the same class as Kim and Ron, they moved to Bay City after her dad got a promotion at Bueno Nacho, taking him to corporate.

Within the course of two months, Jen realized that crime was horrendous in Bay City after her dad got some of the details by his colleagues, about the Forefathers and their many assassins. While her dad tried to fit in at work and as his positions rose, Jen was busy taking trying to put the Forefather's assassins and every other thief, crook, and offender in jail, but she would see them again less than a week and were more lethal than ever.

The first person she killed was a sex offender released on parole when she was seventeen. After taking down a jewel thief and suspending them over a lamppost for police to find, she heard a woman screaming nearby, and the guy was just a complete psycho. Just by the look in his eyes he wanted to beat the woman to death and do whatever he pleased, but since Jen was armed with all kinds of weapons, she knew she could have done something about it. She used a stun grenade, a weapon that was able to knock out anyone nearby, but otherwise it was completely harmless. She knocked out the victim but not the offender, who now laid his eyes on Jen herself. She used just about every non-lethal weapon but he wouldn't fall. She had to resort to lethal weapons now, but even putting a bullet in each limb didn't slow him down. The only thing that would stop him was when his heart stopped. Jen found this out shortly after. So she had killed someone, but it was out of self-defense and to save an innocent woman on the streets at sunset. The event petrified Jen and she needed a few weeks of counseling, but she managed to get over it. Her dad was a big influence on it as well, convincing her that some people will not cease their crimes as long as they're alive. Because his little girl was now moving onto the real criminals, he allowed for her to receive extended weapons training.

Unlike Kim, she separated her "Hero" duties and high school career. Nobody knew who she really was in both worlds, and it didn't bother her at all. In high school, no one tried to influence her to become some kind of label, and she was really a loner at home, obsessed with movies and video games.

Unlike every other girl she knew who claimed they were gamers, they weren't RPGs with an overused art style. Jen was all about the arcades and games that had creative stage designs and art styles over realism. Because she was a pretty girl who liked games, she had a lot of guy gamers wooing her, but she was disgusted in their taste of games. Never tell Jen why Final Fantasy's art style is better than Panzer Dragoon's, the reason a system is going to be good because it can play movies and not its launch titles, or that a game that is super-realistic is the best kind. Fanboys, gamers who would suck up to one system and hate every other one for no logical reason, were also the ultimate turnoff for her.

She was one who took pride for not caring for things like social status, the food chain and popularity. She kept to herself a lot and had a lot of pride for being different, although she had a tendency to gross anybody out wherever food was, among other things. Often some of the popular people would want to put her in a trap, but they backfired, and the jocks never left her alone, finding themselves later inside their own lockers. Guys were always wooing her, but she could always see past them. They weren't the kinds who wanted to find out who she was, they were just more concerned over some kind of scoreboard. There were a few who thought they really liked her for who she was, but they made the conclusion far too soon for their own good. Jen felt guilty with the last one, but it wasn't her fault.

She also did like anime but to an extent, since a lot of the new shows she was watching didn't make too much since or was too unrealistic that it was ridiculous. Weird and unrealistic were probably the best ways to make shows and games, but too much of it would ruin it. But never get in her way with Adult Swim unless you want to be wrapped and hung by your tongue.

Jen was still a force to be reckoned with when she came to Bay City. Another passion she had was for music, but only instrumentals from movie or video game soundtracks. She was a bit of mechanic with her car, a DeLorean, installing the latest speakers and sound system. On the road to pick up a gift for her dad's birthday, a few guys had drove next to her and started blasting their loud _DJ Picky D_ music. Jen wasn't impressed with the move. Pop in her E.S. Posthumus CD, and the second she hit play, the other car tumbled over. No one was hurt except a few guys named 'ego'. People also refused to race her because the first guy she raced hit her on the side, and Jen didn't take it well when the paint was scratched. He was found the next morning hanging on a lamppost from his underwear. To harden the blow, Jen contacted any and every newspaper in the area to get in on the sight before they would go into publishing.

Bay City is also where she met Nev as well, since she knew him long before she graduated. Nev was paranoid that he would be attacked if anyone found out about the technology he possessed, and some government agencies he worked with wanted him to help him move to Bay City. Since Jen's dad was becoming a high power in Bueno Nacho and liked the kid, he offered to help on one condition, team up with his daughter. Nev wasn't in any physical condition to fight alongside her in battle, a reason he refused to explain, but he was excellent with hacking and providing feedback for Jen, and he was also capable of creating weapons with the help of Jen and her dad, who also knew a lot about military weapons as his father was a WWII veteran who supported his granddaughter's cause. If anything, Jen taught Nev any and everything about handheld weapons, and he taught her everything he knew.

But the girl wasn't without her flaws, either. She admitted that her standards for guys were high. She cursed quite often, especially on missions or playing video games with people who were more focused on winning no matter how cheap or terrible the fight was. Her fierce appetite once scared off a bunch of Shaolin Monks, sometimes she overdid her interrogation with her enemies, and lastly, she could be extremely clumsy. She would trip on anything, a building edge, stairs, a dog, her backpack, even one time a water fountain. Sometimes before missions when she stood in front of her mirror and pulled out the gun to act cool, the clip fell out of her gun every time. She also didn't like a _lot_ of things.

Crazy. A tomboy. Clumsy. A gamer. Violent. A fighter. Those were the words Jen chose to describe herself. She then allowed Kim and Ron to share their story, and found herself envious towards her new comrades.

Kim and Ron had been having a lot of fun talking about their past, constantly interrupting each other with forgotten details that came at one or the other's expense, as if the two hadn't reminisced about things for the longest of time, probably not since getting together. They were the stories the two reminded each other all the time about, but they never looked at it from a couple's perspective. The first day of pre-k, their first Halloween with Kim as the cowgirl and Ron in a tutu, when Ron went to Camp Wannaweep while Kim was taking martial arts classes, the day Kim joined the cheerleaders, set up her website and went on her first mission, and the same day Ron purchased Rufus. Then there were more memorable stories, such as the Centurion project, Drakken and Shego, Monkey Fist, Killigan, Motor Ed and his relation with Drakken, the Seniors, GJ, the bomb on Kim's nose, Yamanuchi, Mystical Monkey Power, but the two were a bit touchy when it came to other relationships. Namely, Kim's crushes, Walter Nelson, Josh Mankey and Erik, and for Ron, Alicia Park, Tara Jones, Zita Flores, and Yori. They kept details minimal on dates, but Jen was able to easily figure out why. Kim looked at herself like she was a moron for how easily she fell for some of them, saying next to nothing about Walter, and Ron said next to nothing on Park but felt oblivious on the others, although Zita seemed like a tough gamer girl at first, he didn't really see any compatibility when talking to her more, but Zita wasn't too keen on Ron being a n00b in Everlot either, but she saw that Ron was doing the same thing that Malcolm was doing.

The two joked a lot about Erik, though, since he was a part of Drakken's plan that failed, but it was the same night that Kim and Ron got together, and both admitted how embarrassed they were because of the attention they got, when it happened and afterward. Then there was the subject of 'afterward', taking on the form of a maniacal four-armed teenager.

The story of their encounter with Valia Ryan was the same one they delivered to Yori, and how they had to rush to graduate on time, that Ron went back to Yamanuchi to complete his training, the uprising of the Ice Shadows then some of the worst villains ever, and now this.

The details were nice to Jen, but she was paying more attention to who Kim and Ron really were, not what they were and what they did. She didn't really laugh or giggle at the details, but it was notable that Kim and Ron were always interrupting each other with embarrassing details before and after they started dating, like how Monkey Fist went to Morocco because of a deal a nearby hotel had about giving out the Golden Monkey, but it was only family deal. So, he, disguised as a housewife and his monkey ninjas dressed as a husband and two kids, decided to see if it was true, and it was. That didn't mean the Golden Monkey was anything fable or legendary. It was just a napkin holder.

Then there was the time Ron got stranded in Antarctica with Drakken and Shego because Drakken thought the south pole was a perfect place to build a secret base. Ron was there because Kim had a regionals tournament and didn't want her to miss it because of saving the world, so he volunteered to do it himself. The problem was, the small base was placed on frozen water with a weight limit. Drakken had Shego do the math on what the weight limit would come out to, and it was just enough to fit him, her, the henchmen and the lair. The second Ron came in, it sank, but all three came out without a scratch while the henchmen escaped. Stranded, they tried to find ways to entertain themselves, and Drakken didn't take it well when he lost in a game of charades.

* * *

Shego was laying down on the snow and watching them. "Hey, uh, Dr. D. In case you didn't notice, a chicken, a rock, scratching your ear like a dog, breakdancing and making a snow angel isn't going to convince anybody that the answer is _The Godfather Part III_." 

"Quiet, Shego! I know what I'm doing!..." The doc then whispered to himself sheepishly. "_Do_ I know what I'm doing?"

Ron was no better, he almost looked like he was having a heart attack, gasping for air and pretended to be dead while also making a snow angel. The answer to that one was _Planet of the Apes_, obviously not his favorite movie.

* * *

But that was a month prior to the call from Nakasumi Toy Company. 

After the two started dating, they shared a lot of embarrassing moments. There was one time the two went to the movies, and Kim ordered herself a drink because it was so hot. She actually forgot which movie they were watching and went into the wrong theater. The two were constantly hollering at each other from two different theaters to see which one was the right one. Then there was the time the two thought they found a secret place to be alone, their own special private place. Problem was, the second they realized that, a deconstruction crew was behind them and were ready to blow the place. So much for a romantic getaway. There was also the time Kim made a horrible mistake in challenging Ron in a Naco-eating contest because she needed to find a way to make Bueno Nacho interesting on dates. The challenge was one that required Diablo hot sauce, but Kim underestimated how powerful they were, putting two packets in her meal and started eating before Rufus could say "Go".

Let's just say that poor Kim was burping smoke the entire way home.

Then there was one time Kim was running late and used her rocket shoes to Ron's house, but something went wrong in the propulsion system and refused to turn off. She slammed into Ron and took him for quite a ride around the city, past the lake's waters and through just about every street, barely able to control herself. The ride finally ended about twenty minutes later on the very center of Middleton lake, dropping Kim and Ron straight into the water.

The two also sparred a lot in Ron's backyard, especially when he came back from Yamanuchi. They went at it pretty hard, since Ron convinced Kim the best way to learn skills and techniques was not to go easy on your opponent. Neither realized that doing such moves on the most important person you know would help you perform the same moves against everyone else. They also sparred in their mission gear so they would be used to performing their moves when they were out saving the world. They would train for an hour or two, sometimes Ron would teach Kim a move, sometimes she would teach him something, sometimes one played offense while the other played defense, and sometimes they just mess around if they weren't in the mood or were too tired.

One day, Ron was playing offense while Kim played defense. Just because he completed his training didn't mean he was a master, but he noticeably had become more powerful. Ron was practicing moves with his hands that required his fingers to be fully extended, almost using them like knives. He did a few quick moves on Kim, trying to break through her defense, and she was trying to make sure she wasn't getting hit, but didn't realize he accidentally took the belt off her cargo jeans. Both shared mortified looks when they saw the belt in his hand, along with the sound of clothes sliding off. For once, Kim was the one who lost the pants, but Ron kept his eyes closed and covered as he held out the belt to her. She quickly grabbed it and ran into the nearby bushes and secured it tightly, too tightly that it interfered with the sparring lesson. There hadn't been a moment she was more embarrassed since.

Kim and Ron were looking back on so many fond memories, forgetting that they had a guest. This was the second time this happened, the first being Nev when they met him. Jen found herself interested in both characters. Kim had seemed a tough but smart girl who was actually a cheerleader, since with Jen's experience the existence of a cheerleader was no more than a pact of the devil waiting to happen. She also got the impression that while Kim enjoyed her school activities and world-saving, she was never really happy. That's where Ron came in. He would often light up her day, but that tripled when they started dating. Jen didn't like people who were bent on the food chain and labels and thought extracurricular activities were crucial for your character. Most of the people she knew that were hooked on their extracurricular activities or tried way too hard to get perfect grades were ironically the dumbest people she ever met. But Kim didn't allow those to mutate her character. Perhaps she was a bit tough on Ron, only because she cared, but Kim did everything she did because she was confident she could do it, not because she wanted to overpressure herself or fit in with the popular crowd.

But Ron, he was the type of person she needed in her high school. Carefree and not concerned with his image, and didn't allow himself to think he was out of everyone's league to fit in or be liked by a girl. He appeared to be confident in almost everything he did, even if it wasn't for the best in terms of grades or social popularity, but Ron didn't care what anyone else thought of him. If Kim was cool with it, and a lot of times she wasn't, he was okay. It wasn't like he did anything that harmed his body or who he was, but everyone makes mistakes.

But both still didn't understand why everyone at Middleton wanted them to get together. Hardly any boys hit on Kim throughout the entire school year, probably because every boy thought they were out of their league, and then girls stopped hitting on Ron early Senior year.

The answer was obvious to Jen, though. They didn't want to interfere in the inevitable. They knew Kim was good for Ron and Ron was good for Kim. She didn't like a lot of couples she knew since they were so pathetic together, but something was different about Kim and Ron, and she couldn't quite explain it. It was rather awkward that a cheerleader was going out with a slacker, but it wasn't something she didn't like. The two shared a lot of differences and still stayed by each other the whole time.

One thing she felt mixed on were the villains Kim fought, especially Drakken. It was like one of her favorite shows; Put an idiot in a giant robot and see what happens. It was the same one that almost destroyed her dad's company and took over the world. How odd was that? Most of the bad guys Jen knew weren't stupid. It was actually 50/50.

The whole conversation took them past one in the morning. When it was all over, five large pizzas and ten lemonades were consumed.

Kim let out a huge sigh for breath. "Sorry I was harshing on you."

Jen also let out a huge sigh. "I don't blame you one bit for it."

Ron let out a wild burp. "Thanks for the meal, too."

"Eh, don't think anything of it other than catching up with it. You know, you two are more intriguing in person than all the news reports make it out to be."

Kim had to pull herself upward. "What do you mean?"

Jen let out a yawn that lasted ten seconds. "You haven't heard? Some political media moguls think you do what you do only for the attention."

Ron gagged and let his arms fly around. "Yeah, sure, and what they're doing these days aren't? Oooh, look at me, I'm on a podium, I think I'm going to talk smack about everyone and everything, and I have no idea why! Oogoobloogoowagagaga!"

Jen burst out into laughter at the motion Ron made, choking for a second on her breath, "Exactly! I can't believe what they say about you either. It's ridiculous!"

Kim was a bit surprised to hear this, more that the media knew who Ron was. "And what do they say about Ronnie here?"

"They think you don't need a brain to save the world, like the only way to save the world is by having superpowers and the IQ of a rocket scientist."

Ron smirked, "Hah! I've saved the world more times than some dork on TV who whines about everything in existence." He let out another belch, almost as if it were some cry of victory.

Jen moved her head around to pop her neck. "I'm glad you guys haven't let the attention go to your head. If I ever saw you on Entertainment Tonight or VH1 on those shows about how selfish and idiotic celebrities are, I think I'd consider you mortal enemies… How much money _have_ you guys made for these missions?"

Kim shrugged. "I've got a private college savings fund where all that goes, otherwise I get an allowance." She then leaned over and whispered to Jen's ear. "Ron's earnings also go into his own private college savings fund but he doesn't know about it, so don't tell him. Bueno Nacho actually gave him a _lot_ of money for the Nacos and lost it easily."

Jen winked. "Got it."

"Also…" Kim continued in regular volume, "I think my parents would disown me if I turned into a celebrity and used it to boost my ego. There was this one time someone turned my mission gear into a fashion statement, and the attention wasn't fun at all. I don't crave the attention, I just do what I do because it needs to be done."

Ron then let out a huge yawn that lasted twenty seconds. "Yep, we just save the world because it needs to be done. No attention, not for the media, not to be cool, but we just like to help people, and you feel pretty groovy when a day of saving the world is said and done."

"Rock on… But this place is closing in…" Check the watch, "About ten minutes. Better get out of here."

Kim, Ron and the naked mole rat agreed on this one, slowly getting up from their seats. Jen had already long paid with her credit card, helping the two onto their feet and leading them out the door.

Ron put his arm around Kim and patted her on the shoulder, but his attention was on Jen. "Well, I guess we'll be seeing each other later."

"Yeah, I guess so. Oh! I almost forgot…"

Jen pulled a pink disc out of her pocket and tossed it to Kim, who caught it with only two fingers.

"Just as said, here's the information you need."

Kim observed the details of the pink transparent disk and smiled. "Thanks… How's the fastest way back to our hotel?"

Jen securely put on her gloves. "The street straight ahead… keep going straight and you'll see it. See ya!" She then jumped at least twenty feet onto a nearby building, then jumped onto another one, then continued until she was gone.

Kim smiled. "A bit on the weird side, but not as bad as I originally thought."

"I knew it all along. A friend of Bueno Nacho is a friend of mine. I could see it in her eyes."

"What do you mean?"

"KP, she has your eyes, except hers are blue. You know, KP, you have compassionate eyes. They're not cold, soulless, or conniving."

Kim blushed. "Ron, stop… You've told me all this stuff about my eyes…" she paused for a moment, "So what does that have to do with Jen?"

"They have the same compassion, and she has the same drive as you do to save people. Not in the same way, mind ya, but I guess I can kinda see these things. But if you need to ask, I prefer green eyes over blue."

"Well, some people do say eyes determine a person's character… but Jen and I are so different, Ron."

Ron shook his head. "I don't think that's what they mean, KP. I guess you can see things in some people based on what you see in their eyes, but everyone's got a different interpretation. I see a desire to make the world a better place in both your eyes."

"Since when did you become so observant and wise?"

"Sensei's teachings, and I stay current."

Kim smiled. "I see."

It would take the two a half-hour to reach the hotel.

* * *

Inside the hotel room, it was already early in the morning and both were peacefully asleep… and by peacefully asleep that means both scattered their arms and legs in all kinds of directions and snoring loudly in the same bed. 

Outside, two miniature machines that were about the size of a speck of dust walked into the room.

Zoom near both Kim and Ron's left ear. Something inside seemed to be animating, as if something were inside. Two machines similar to the others 'walked' out of their ears and self-disintegrated.

The other two walked on top of the bed, one walked toward Kim's left ear and the other walked toward Ron's left ear. They were small, but were able to scan their subjects, confirming that they were the correct ones to go inside of.

They felt nothing.

* * *

That morning, Kim and Ron slept in real late again, being awakened by the Kimmunicator the next morning. 

"_Looks like you slept well,"_ was Wade's first comment.

Kim let out a long yawn, pulling her other arm and leg out from under Ron. "Yeah, we did. So what's up?"

"_Nev told me Jen gave you information regarding his Hands."_

"Oh, right!" Kim tried to remember where she put the disk, finding it on the floor but falling off the bed to grab it. She put the disk in the Kimmunicator and allowed Wade to download its contents.

"_Wow, usually profiles are about a few KB. This is 37 MB. Unfortunately, the electronic interference of the city is slowing down the transfer speed, so it'll be awhile."_

"How long?"

"_Oh, I'd say longer than it takes you and Ron to go out and get breakfast."_

"Actually, Jen took us out to eat a lot of pizza last night, so I'm not really hungry. I don't know about Ron, though." She leaned over to see her BF still sleeping. "He's not awake yet."

"_Oh, so you and Jen are cool now?"_

"A little on the weirdness and a bit violent, but I've met much worse. She explained pretty much her entire history to us. Sounds pretty clean to me."

"_That's good to hear. Nev was starting to get a bit concerned about you and her."_

"Really? Why?"

"_He thinks she'd make an awesome addition on the team because she knows everything about any weapon you give her and knows how to use it. We're not talking about secret weapons disguised as everyday items that I've given you. We're talking sniper rifles, automatic machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers, bow and arrow and the like. Not as athletic as you are, but still a major threat to any villain around town."_

"Not permanent, right?"

"_That's up for you to decide, but her place is here. He wants to warn you that she is two-sided, goofy and acts like a regular girl when she's not in mission mode, but when she is in mission mode, she's extremely serious. In fact, Nev sent me a video on a sniper duel against one of the Forefather's main assassins, 'Sniper Ren'. Very impressive… except for the detailed ending, of course."_

"I know I'm going to regret asking this, but can you pull up Jen's profile?"

"She's not mentioned in the GJ archives. Why ask?"

"Curious to see how many people's she's taken to jail and taken out completely."

"I can do a search on Order and Redemption, DNA, Nugal Resistance, or- Got it. It's in the same format as GJ's profiles."

Kim watched as a smiling blonde appeared on the screen, along with some biographical information.

_Name: Jennifer Ariel Ferno  
Age: 18  
Gender: Female  
Height: 164  
Weight: 98  
IQ: 125  
Blood Type: AB  
Family: Benjamin Richard Ferno – Father. Mother died in childbirth  
Race: Caucasian  
Vehicle: 1983 Silver DeLorean  
Primary Method of Attack: Firearms  
Fluent in English, Spanish and Italian  
Black Belt in Judo, Ensei-ken, Tae Kwon Do and Jujitsu  
Kidnapped at age 4  
Weapons Experience is High  
Military Experience is Moderate – Attended Military School at Age 8  
Excellent Hand-Eye Coordination  
Graduated from High School in Colorado – Location unknown  
Criminals Arrested: 34  
Criminals Killed: 11_

One detail caught Kim's attention. "Kidnapped? What's that about?"

"_She didn't mention it?"_

"No, not at all. You know something?"

"_Nev told me about it yesterday, it's a bit of a secret, so don't tell Ron?"_

"Got it."

"_Apparently, her dad was at work but hired a babysitter for her. Babysitter brought her boyfriend and didn't pay attention to Jen, and that's how she was kidnapped."_

"What happened?"

"_Kidnapper got hit by a car. Jen's dad was driving."_

"Intentional or accident?"

"_Dunno. Jen doesn't remember the details and her dad doesn't like to talk about it. It was a scary experience for him after all."_

"I'll bet. Think that's the reason he allowed her to become what she wanted to be?"

"_Sounds like it. I'm sure any father would want their daughter to know how to defend themselves after a situation like that. So she didn't mention that?"_

"She just said he watched a lot of violent action movies and she snuck in and watched."

"_That's no lie, I know of that. One thing I wonder is why the school she graduated from isn't mentioned."_

"Don't know, but that's all I wanted to know for now. So any word on Elurt and his men?"

"_He left a hit on your website."_

"Oh, swell… You don't mind if I hold it until Ron wakes up, do you?"

"I'm up." Ron was barely awake, stretching and realigning his body. "So, what's the old guy have to say?"

Wade pressed a key on his end, and Elurt appeared on the screen.

"_Good morning, Kimberly Anne Possible and Ronald Stoppable. I have decided it is time for me to reveal what my plan for World Domination is, since none of you could figure it out."_

Ron rubbed his eyes, "Wants to reveal his plan, huh? A regular. Yeesh."

Because this was a recording, Elurt wasn't going to reply. _"I will skip several of the details because of last night's events. Surely you overheard some of them, but I give you _so_ much time to figure it out since. I'm disappointed."_

Kim rolled her eyes, "It's called sleep and a life. Hello?"

"_Here's the deal. I will send four of my henchmen to secure a top-secret weapon in four various locations around the world. They will be based on economy, population, tourism, and weather. At a given time, I will have my team detonate all four of them, and the results will be catastrophic. And believe me, there will be casualties. It will only be an example of the power I possess, and best of all, no one will think I am responsible. Even if you come with all your new comrades, you won't be able to stop all of us, one if you're lucky. And if you do succeed in disarming one team, the rest will go off shortly afterward, earlier than originally planned. It is definitely not enough time to travel to another area of the world, I assure you. And the very weapon I'm talking about?"_

Elurt stepped out of the way to reveal the very weapon.

A nuclear warhead.

"_Yes, we have been able to steal four of these beauties. However, Miss Possible, I am not making demands from any government leaders or anything. I just simply want to put it to its original use. We have thousands of these around the world and I feel it's a shame we haven't been able to use them."_

Ron scratched his neck. "No demands, and he's telling this to us why?"

"_My Hands have been dying to meet a worthy challenge. I tell you what, if my first plan to conquer the world fails, I surrender. This means, of course, taking out all sixteen of my henchmen, disarming the nuclear warheads, defeating any and all obstacles that are thrown your way, and lastly, capturing me. If you're wondering about my colleague, his work is done here. He has taken care of any other business and corporate moguls that would dare interfere. You have four days before the warheads are set off, unless you're focused on someone else… It's either your assassin or us!"_

The transmission stopped there.

Kim was appalled. "How was he able to steal four nukes? Wade, can you confirm this?"

"_Sure can. The French Government had just issued GJ France about four missing nuclear warheads. They've already sent a request note for your help. I've also sent the video feed to various anti-crime corporations of the world, including the one taken last night by a security camera."_

"Whoa, hold on, I appreciate the help but Ron and I can handle this just fine like we did when we were there the last time."

"_Not this time, Kim. I've finished downloading that information on that disc…"_

Kim sighed. "Well, go on."

"_I warn you, the details are a bit disturbing. You know that Ron used a flash grenade to take all but three out, right?"_

"I remember."

"_Well, that seemed to be their only weakness, and for the ones who weren't incapacitated, they were somehow weakened by it. I don't understand it, maybe they had nanomachines in their blood and they were affected by it…"_

"Why would they have nanomachines in their blood? You don't suppose it's a method to keep their adrenaline running?"

Wade laughed. _"Why ask if you know the answer to it, Kim? Exactly. It's like steroids except it goes in your bloodstream and keeps running until the batteries die. Well, I can't confirm that as the real reason, but not a bad theory. Anyway, according to the information on the disc, it looks like all sixteen of them had something done to them to reverse that effect. I'm not sure if I believe the details, but it says their eyes were altered and something was put into their bloodstream, so our theory might be correct."_

Kim interrupted. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, did you say 'eyes altered'? We saw them five-six days ago, surely some kind of surgical procedure would take them longer to recover. Last night they looked the exact same as last time."

Wade shrugged his shoulders. _"That's why I have a hard time believing it."_

Ron joined in on the conversation, "That was probably their only weakness, so say that we can't take them out by that method. How bad are they otherwise?"

"_I know you've heard it over and over, but his Hands really are the best there are. Look at their records and it's almost like they're not human. And like Elurt said, if one of the team falls, the rest will detonate the nukes, no questions asked. They don't care if they die, that's how loyal they are."_

"I see where you're getting at, Wade…" Ron chuckled. "We can actually only handle one team, but we'll need three others to handle the others at the same time."

"_Exactly, and don't think you can go it at one team all by yourself. You can probably take out one member by yourself, but since there are more than one, they are also known as strategic experts in combat and will probably screw you over. There's a video on here that shows one of them caught by five security guards. He practically slaughters all of them and laughs like a maniac when he's done. They weren't any pushovers, either. Now I know why they say you shouldn't see extremely violent stuff at an early age. I'll spare you the bloody footage. What's worse is another with two infiltrating a bank. They take out all of the security guards with sickening methods, and they're only caught my security camera. There were a total of eighteen guards in that bank."_

"So they're really that good, huh? And to think Ron took most of them down with a flash grenade. What were the odds of that?"

"_It was their only weakness for some reason. But take that away, well, read the details…"_

The two had a hard time believing it, but according to the documents Jen managed to steal, it was like a team from hell. Despite their different ages, from 13 to 84, races and genders, they all had at least one extremely deadly trait, but the amount of people they all have killed were massive. Those numbers were just each member alone. Four of them were going to guard a nuke, and as much as Kim hated to admit it, she may have met her match. They weren't by any means fair, either. They would do whatever was possible to kill their prey, and they enjoyed doing it, rumored to bathe themselves in their victim's blood. Wade was right, though, some of these stats on how particular members could handle specific weapons were off the charts and almost unreal. She couldn't take on all sixteen of them at once, but if she had a team, she could take on a team four easily, but she needed something for the other twelve.

"So how are we going to do this…?"

"_Got it covered. OAR, ACN, and DNA have all volunteered to handle the others."_

"Haven't heard of those guys, any good?"

"_Very. They don't have the style you do, but they get the job done. Because Elurt knows you're going to interfere, they're going to wait until we go in to attack, so that way Elurt receives an unexpected surprise and can't detonate the nukes. And believe me, I've checked the names of the soldiers they're sending, and they've got profiles like young legendary war heroes."_

"Great. So any idea where the four locations are?"

"_I sure do. Jen hacked into it. Tibet, Antarctica, Mexico and the US. We're not talking about private test sites, either. We're talking populated areas. Not places people can cover up."_

Ron took a guess, "Tibet because of Mount Everest as a tourist attraction… Antarctica because of the glaciers, Mexico because of Mexico City, and the US is obvious."

Kim winked at Ron. "Good thinking, Ron. Wade, you don't suppose we have a lift, do you?"

"_Jen added a message here telling me she's in the process of renting a jet, and she's going to e-mail me when she gets it… probably two hours from now. Everything I've sent to everyone else, I've sent to Yori. I'm not sure if she knows what e-mail is, though, but Nev confirmed he was able to deliver a message. I hope she gets it."_

Ron felt a bit uneasy about heading on a mission like this two hours after waking up, "So, where exactly are _we_ headed, New York?"

"_Nope. DNA's it covered. ACN's got Mexico and OAR's got Antarctica. Sounds like you guys are heading to Tibet."_

"Everest, huh? Right on." Ron was obviously faking his enthusiasm. It's summer and he has to go to a freezing location. "Well, my stomach's growling."

"You guys should eat and start packing, and check your bags, too. There's a lot of new survival gear that I think you'll need sometime or another."

Both Kim and Ron fell off the bed in an effort to look for their bags, and found them. Wade was right, there was a ton of new equipment, mostly various bandages and first aid, mission clothes designed to block out the cold (including a small one for Rufus), some binoculars in Ron's bag that had the word "Ronnocular" on it, and in Kim's bag, some liquids with a syringe.

"Wade, what's this?"

"_That's in case you two come down with hypothermia. Reason being is that right now there are fierce blizzards going on there and depending on how long you're out in the cold, you might need it. I don't like the method myself, but they don't have that in a pill or anything. Sorry."_

"I'd better not show this to Ron."

The two continued to look at what else was in there. A few scarves, mostly clothes and equipment for surviving the cold.

"Okay, Wade, I've just got to ask."

"_Shoot."_

"How do you get new things into our bags without us knowing?"

"_Funny you should ask. Before, there was actually an agent in your high school who I used to slip in new stuff when you weren't looking, but that was back when you were in Middleton."_

"I wouldn't happen to know the guy, would I?"

"_Well, since his services are done, I suppose I can give you a name: Dante Randal."_

"The guy in the art class who made that awesome detailed picture of Death that took up the school wall? Once you get past the dark meaning, it was really well done. I was wondering why he didn't say anything when I complimented him on it."

"_Relax, he only didn't want to blow his cover, and I made sure he didn't dig through your stuff intentionally. Did exactly what he was told, so I got him a job at GJ."_

"That was nice of you to do. So who did it this time?"

"_Jen did last night when you two were reminiscing on the past."_

"I should be surprised, but I'm not. I was looking at Ron the whole time." She let out a dreamy sigh. "Good times, good times…"

"_Oh, by the way, your tracking chips are upgraded."_

"Okay, I gotta know this. How?"

"_Last night the old ones crawled out of your… and the new ones crawled in."_

Kim clearly caught the gap. "Our what? Wade, are you telling me they're nano-ticks, too? Don't tell me this thing's up my nose."

"_Nope."_

"Ears?"

"_Anyway, if anything happens, I've got your positions chipped."_

Kim shoved her pinky finger into her ear but felt nothing. Her attention then went to Ron as he screamed like a schoolgirl. In his hands was a plastic container with the words 'Bueno Nacho' on it.

"Ooooh! This is the Guacanaco I told Jen's dad to make!" Ron was all giddy about seeing another food creation come to life.

Wade laughed. _"Looks like Jen also sneaked in a little gift for Ron."_

"Now Ron…" Kim mock-lectured, "We save that for the trip."

"I know. I can't even open it right now. Rufus?"

The little mole rat was trying to bite into the plastic container, but no matter which end, his teeth wouldn't sink through. "No deal!"

"_Looks like that container is designed to open only in harsh conditions. Your hotel room doesn't count, Ron. Hold on…"_ Wade did a bit of typing and looked onto the screen as if he received a message. _"Jen just got the jet but it needs to be refueled. She says she'll be ready to take off in an hour."_

"Looks like she's got everything handled. So we'll eat, come back here and grab everything we need, and we're off to Tibet."

"_I'll contact you when I get more details. See you two later, and be safe on that trip."_

_

* * *

_

It was about 1:30 that afternoon when Kim and Ron arrived at the airport with all their bags. Ron offered to carry everything Kim had, but add all of his equipment, that meant he was carrying a giant towering bag full of everything. Kim always packed light, but he had a thing for packing heavy, not to mention he brought all of Yori's weapons she never came back for. There was a lot of commotion in the airport with a lot of people looking at some kind of plane outside. It was the jet Jen prepared for the team, but it had a sleek black paint job with red linings, much like…

"That thing has the same look as my battle suit…" Ron realized. "Nice. And we're going to be riding in that thing?"

"Yep." It wasn't Kim's voice.

Jen had snuck up behind them and grabbed the two by their shoulders. "If we can get past all this traffic, that is."

The airport security was already pulling people back to clear the way for everyone else trying to get though, even though it was just four expected people.

One of them recognized the team.

"Hey, Ron!" It was Yuri. She noticed the girls next to him. "Hey, you're Kim Possible, aren't you?"

"Yeah, hi." After a brief moment of silence she nudged Ron. "So Ron, going to introduce me to your friend here?"

Ron slapped his forehead. "Oh, right. KP, meet Yuri… Yamazaki?" Yuri nodded. "Yuri, meet KP."

Yuri grabbed Kim's hand and shook it ecstatically, enough to almost drive Kim up and down. "A pleasure to meet you!" Her attention then went to the other girl. "Hi Jen."

"Hi."

Ron found the moment awkward. "You two know each other?"

Yuri rolled her eyes, "Remember Ron, I also work at Bueno Nacho, and since Jen's dad's in charge, I know who she is. She sometimes comes by to drop off his lunch."

Ron sheepishly laughed. "Heh heh, doy, huh?"

Kim was trying to see straight when she noticed another girl wearing a schoolgirl outfit approaching.

"Stoppable-san! Possible-san! I have arrived and I'm ready to go!" Yori was enthusiastic as ever, but she noticed the other Japanese girl talking to Ron. Yuri froze at the sight of Yori.

There was silence as the two stared at each other. They were almost twins.

"Yamazaki-san? Is that you?"

"Cousin Yori?"

Kim, Ron and Jen's faces dropped. "_Cousin_ Yori?"

"Yori! How long's it been?"

They obviously didn't see this coming.

"Now see, what are the chances of _that?"_ Ron cried. So Yuri knew Jen and was related to Yori? That explains the physical resemblance, but it felt all too weird. Kim didn't feel any different, despite having experienced much weirder things.

Notwithstanding the ten year reunion, Yuri knew now wasn't the time. "You all had better squeeze through before everyone comes crawling back."

Yuri then walked into the massive crowd and pushed everyone out of her way, providing a clear path for Team Possible, Jen and Yuri to get through. They all thanked her as they went outside and where the jet was parked. No wonder it appeared so big, the right wing was actually two feet away from the glass window, and it wasn't even parked on the landing strip. When all four approached it, it wasn't as big as they once thought.

Jen turned off the security system with what appeared to be keys. The doors opened and the stairs lowered, allowing all four to get on.

Inside, they were treated to a clean and roomy jet, much like Nakasumi's, but everything was black and red and had a gigantic couch that covered the entire portion of the plane.

"_You all ready to go?"_ It was Jen's voice on a loud speaker. She had already strapped herself into the pilot's seat and started the jet.

"Wait, you're flying?" Kim hollered.

"_What, you wanna?"_

Kim shrugged her shoulders. "Not unless I need to, so… not this time."

"_Relax, my dad let me fly his private jet when I turned 12. Those suckers at military school also let me fly a couple of these! Next stop, Tibet! Strap in, it's going to be a bit rough!"_

All three passengers did as told and kept their equipment near them. Rufus made sure he was secure in Ron's pocket.

A few shaky turns and they were off.

* * *

On the roof of the airport, a transparent human stares at the plane taking off. 

"Things are going just as planned…"


	11. 10: Desolation

**Chapter 10: Desolation**

_Yeah, I figure I might have some readers seeing that my hit count is well over 900._

_Q&A:  
charizardag: Sorry, future events of the story won't be told.  
Zaratan: Worry not, it's part of the plot. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait till Ch. 13._

_Thanks for the comments! _

_Also, if you've played the Kim Possible 3: Team Possible on the Game Boy Advance, you'll notice an **obvious **reference here._

_

* * *

_

Yori hadn't been one to speak often on this mission. In fact, she couldn't figure out how she had gotten into any of this mess.

Why was she on this plane? Was there any other motive Yori had other than her promise to assist Ron in any of this? She was more than grateful for him saving her from the mind control, but that's where a second motive must have come in.

Yori wanted answers just as much as anybody else. One minute she was training in the forests on Mt. Fuji, the next she had her hand on a grenade while scaling Bueno Nacho Corporate HQ. That's how she remembered things.

Revenge? Hardly. She needed the answers just as much, if not more than everybody else on the trip.

She already figured out why she was the one used as the puppet. If Kim were used, it would be all too obvious for Ron. No, they needed the team intact and use someone else, but close. Family members would be too obvious, and Kim… did she have any close friends who were lethal fighters? No, not really. Ron told her about the friends she had, but she never had someone she could rely on when she was alone. Ron told her that there was the one time Kim was stuck on Bonnie and the two took down Dementor, but Bonnie always made fun of Kim because of her duties instead of living a 'normal' life, even after the incident.

There was one thing she found peculiar of Kim, however. For a girl with her social status in an American school, Kim should have had all kinds of friends, and there was bound to be someone who she could count in combat situations if Ron weren't around. Why was it that people knew Kim but never really hung out with her? Were people intimidated by the fact that on the news she was always shown throwing a goon out the window or destroying a stolen military weapon?

Yori had also done her research on Kim and actually knew her more than Kim would like to know. Despite her knowledge, she had no idea. Perhaps it was because she hung out with Ron, someone considered an outcast? That wasn't to say they had no other friends but each other, but she figured Kim would have had all the friends in the world if she needed them. She had Monique, the fashion girl she ran into when she first met Kim in the halls of Middleton High, but was that it? Although the concept of using Monique as backup did cross Kim's mind at one point, but at the same time, Kim felt she already had, but knew she never did. Déjà vu?

Why was Kim so popular yet… alone?

Maybe Possible-san did care for Stoppable-san after all. With Kim's looks and popularity, there's no doubt people invited her to join their clique, probably under the condition of getting rid of Ron. Did Kim blow off such things to keep her best friend?

She couldn't stop thinking about them. The three were still in the back of the jet, all resting on the comfortable couches, Ron was sleeping on one end and Kim was sleeping on another. They were pretty far from each other, Ron holding a Bueno Nacho brochure he found inside the jet, and in Kim's hand was a Teen Scene magazine.

Yori had heard much of Kim and knew a lot of information concerning her, finding GJ's profile on both online. There were the usual details such as height, weight, bloodtype and special characteristics, but that was it. She knew the details, but she never knew who Kim was as a person. She didn't know what she looked for in love, if she was the jealous type, her own personal desires for the future and more. Ron just gave her the usual; she saved the world, she was his best friend since pre-k, she was skilled in several martial arts styles, she was a cheerleader, the villains she fought and so forth. Now she was his girlfriend.

Then there was also the question of the girl flying the jet. Yori had a more difficult time understanding her. Yori had been in danger before, more often than both Ron and Kim knew, but this was the first time she ever had a gun barrel digging into her head. It was frightening, but she understood why Jen had done it. Indeed, Yori had placed Jen's father in extreme danger, and she wouldn't try to excuse her actions other than the truth, one she didn't expect everyone to believe. In a way, Yori felt like she deserved it because she was unable to fight it off and put people in danger, especially those with families. Perhaps this was what dishonor was; Failure.

But despite Sensei's teachings, not all ninjas were about honor. In fact, there were very few, and from the ancient days of Japan to today, most ninjas were often mercenaries who did any kind of work for the right dollar or yen. Need someone to be assassinated or kidnapped? That's where you would hire a ninja. Perhaps Sensei wanted a change in this and taught her and his other students that inner honor was everything. There were some students like Fukushima who refused this concept, and after he was expelled from the school he was used as a perfect example of what happens when you fail to see your inner self and never listen to your heart.

Yori could also think of several ninjas and martial artists who were trained in the ways of honor but never lived by them. Some would later come to their senses and right their wrongs, but most of them did not.

Yori missed being at the school. It was great to go on a mission with Ron again, but Yamanuchi was her home. Perhaps this was why she didn't envision a future of her and Ron, because there was none to be had. It was gut-wrenching, but his heart was taken. Because Yori didn't know who Kim truly was as a person, she couldn't determine if she was right for him. Maybe Ron had a crush on her the whole time, maybe he feared the possibilities at even a young age.

Perhaps she did not know who Ron Stoppable was as a person, either. In fact, she became attracted to him because he was comical, cute and brave. Were those reasons to fall for a guy? Maybe Kim and Ron did share something more. No, there was something else that attracted her about Ron.

Ron Stoppable… the only other boy who treated her like a human being. As for the other one, his coffin was buried in Upperton.

Would Ron turn out the same way? Would she?

Yori tried to go to sleep like Kim and Ron had. She couldn't help but feel troubled about everything. Was this a place for her to be right now?

She couldn't fall asleep. She had so many things troubling her mind about the situation, and seeing Stoppable-san near Kim and knowing how they felt towards each other made her feel uncomfortable. They could've been inconsiderate and cuddled with each other for her to see, but this wasn't the case. Still, she felt a lot of discomfort. She didn't know that Ron had a policy against PDA (Public Display of Affection), since it was something that bothered him when Kim had boyfriends, and he didn't want to be a hypocrite about it. Yori didn't know he was the only time he didn't want to be one. Ron hated celebrities who flaunted their stuff and tried to act like they were on top of the world, yet when he was rich or did something to feel proud about, he did the same. It never lasted long, and arguably it was done as one of those 'in the moment' deals.

Frustrated at how she felt, she got up and stretched, realizing it had been a while since she last did it. It felt refreshing if not painful in some areas.

Maybe the cockpit would help. Despite how intimidated she felt by Jen the last time they met in person, the girl did apologize, but she didn't blame her if she still had bitter feelings toward her. Maybe that was the least of her concern.

The second Yori pulled the curtain, she almost gasped at the sight before her. The cockpit's appearance rivaled that of a car destruction yard. There were bags of chips everywhere, comics scattered on the floor, the speakers blasting with dark orchestral music, and lastly Jen, who was reading a comic book and sipping a soda, steering with her feet.

Jen easily noticed Yori come in. "Sorry about the appearance." She was pretty calm with the Japanese girl in the same room.

"It is no problem. Do you mind if I rest in here? I can not get to sleep in the back."

Jen turned down the volume and cleaned the mess on the other seat. "No, go ahead."

"Thank you." Yori was appreciative toward Jen's gesture and allowed herself to sit down. The seat wasn't as comfortable in the couches in the back, but she was able to find a more comfortable position to rest in. She looked out the front window as the clouds flew by.

"Again, I wanted to say I'm sorry for a couple of nights ago." Jen quietly apologized.

"It is okay," Yori assured her, "I do not blame you for doing what you did, based on the circumstances… Are you really piloting this plane with your feet?"

Jen took a loud sip of her drink. "Not really. Right now we're on auto-pilot, but I've got things handled if we're attacked. I've had a few times where I drive a jet into a no-fly zone of some country and didn't give me a chance to get out before being fired upon, but I've escaped without a scratch several times."

"I see."

"So what's bothering you?"

Yori didn't immediately answer. "Is it that obvious?"

"It's your eyebrows. They're curved in a certain way."

Yori noticed the mirrors just above the cockpit windows, and sure enough, her eyebrows were curved in that certain way, a showing of discomfort.

"Let me guess, seeing Spider-Man and Mary Jane like that isn't easy."

Yori wondered how Jen was able to read her so easily. "Do you feel the same?"

Jen turned a page on her comic book. "No, but I can understand. You crush on Ron, you haven't seen him in about four/five months and find out he's taken by the girl he's spent most of his life with. I'm a bit envious of Kim, I'll admit that, but I'll bet it's hell for you. I'm not surprised you came up here, actually."

Yori didn't have anything to say for that. Whether or not Jen really understood every feeling, at least she tried to understand. It was something Yori could sense in her voice.

"Sleep if you need to, Yori. I've got this handled."

Jen turned her head to see how Yori was doing since she didn't respond, and her eyes were already closed. A calm and peaceful song came on and it started to rain lightly. Yori finally managed to fall asleep a half hour later.

"Poor girl."

Jen could easily see how rough things were for Yori. First it was being under mind-control and being sent to nearly kill someone you care about and being unable to control it. Then it was having to awaken from being relieved of the devices and finding out your crush is taken by a girl he'll probably never leave. Jen didn't know the full extent of the pain Yori was going through in her head, but the way she saw it, how would anyone with same circumstances feel comfortable with it?

* * *

A few hours later, Ron woke up in the back. The plane was silent, and whatever song put Yori to sleep was playing quietly throughout the entire plane. It was a rather peaceful song, perfect for the rain outside. 

The first thing he noticed was Rufus sleeping on his back, so it was clear he was sleeping well. Kim on the other hand, it appeared she moved so much that her head was about to fall off. So as gently as he could, he raised her head and upper body and laid it back onto the couch, placing Kim's head on a pillow. She let out a weak moan as if she were enjoying a dream, so Ron left her alone. He also placed Pandaroo in Kim's arms.

'_Old habits die hard, huh, Kim?'_ Ron thought to himself. She was still a little girl in so many ways.

As Kim rolled over, she revealed a magazine in her hands. Ron wasn't much for teen magazines, and he secretly read some of Kim's teen magazines to understand girls, but most of it was embarrassing moments for things he didn't quite understand, and how to get boys and stuff. It was actually a really old issue dating back to a year ago. On the cover were all the O Boyz, back when they meant something.

He took quick note of the page that Kim had her hand in. It was some kind of quiz: "How Hot is Your BF?" Ron hoped by now Kim would stop listening to magazines, but then again Kim wasn't good at entertaining herself alone unless she had homework. Still, Ron calmly picked up the magazine and read what it was about. There were the expected questions, such as "When your guy takes you out to eat, he takes you…" or "When a date ends, does he…", and so on. Unfortunately, the options available were pretty predictable, as if the 'guy' you were dating was hot, rich, or neither. Kim circled her answers truthfully, and when it came to the results, the magazine said that Kim was dating a "nottie" and should aim higher on the food chain. What Ron found amusing though was that Kim scribbled a bit on that part, as if ignoring it. So Ron wasn't rich or a sports athlete...

Quite frankly, he didn't care anymore. Were girls these days really after guys spending everything on them or being muscular and "manly"? Unfortunately for what some of the shows he saw on his cable TV, he was led to believe so. It didn't depress him much, since he steady with Kim. In fact, since the two started dating, he didn't care how manly or rich he was or where he ranked on the food chain. He didn't care for the attention of all the ladies in the world, now it was just Kim. She was the only one who truly mattered, and like she had reassured him before they were dating, he needed to be the real him, muscles don't make a man, and that money doesn't make you the best person. Little did Kim know she was referring to herself, and sometimes when Ron didn't listen it worried her.

Despite the impression that many got of Kim that she was a stern girl who never treated him with full respect and was a bit of a sadist outside her missions, never showing emotions like crying or laughter, Ron completely disagreed. She may not have said things in the most polite way all the time, but she was doing it because she was looking out for him and cared for him. It was something only he alone realized.

Moments like these he really was glad that she didn't hate him for what happened in Thailand, and he was so tempted to hold her in his arms, but she looked so peaceful in her sleep. No snoring, no drooling, just soft moaning with a smile on her face. He decided to leave her alone for now.

The cockpit wasn't too far away, and no wonder the song on the plane was repeating itself, Jen had fallen asleep, and Yori was still sleeping. He was quick to notice the words "AUTO-PILOT ENGAGED" lit on the navigation controls. There also seemed to be navigation controls for the MP3 player Jen connected to it. She had the song _"Lyric"_ looped.

He felt a bit awkward, being the only guy on a plane, and that the girls were all sleeping. Still, Jen and Yori were sleeping with their heads tilted, and Ron knew that they probably wouldn't wake up with their necks feeling good. Just to be considerate, he walked toward the back again, came back with two unused pillows and placed them behind the back of Jen and Yori's heads, moving them just a little bit. Yori let out a soft moan as Ron gently moved her head and put a pillow under it.

Jen on the other hand let out a bizarre phrase when Ron tried to gently move her head, "Relax, grandma, I'll take the dinosaur dog out to eat the neighbor's lawnmower after you play bingo with the shark…" She was still asleep, though.

Sure, Kim was number one on Ron's list, but a nice gesture wouldn't hurt. After all, Ron did appreciate their help in this matter. It was the least he could do. Jen may have been weird, but she also had a pretty peaceful face as she slept, but Yori didn't appear to be sleeping peacefully at all. She had a concerned look on her face, the same one she had when she came on. Ron then realized something, the air conditioner was on and Yori was in a schoolgirl outfit. She must've been cold. A blanket was just outside, so he grabbed it and carefully put it on her.

Now that that was out of the way, he decided to see what was on that navigation display. It was an orange HDCS (Holographic Display Control System) that had various controls on it, but it also showed specifics; The current weather outside, the weather of the landing location, the engines, winds, any nearby aircraft, and the estimated time to reach Tibet.

Ron was looking at nine more hours, and it was already past six. They had already gone past Hawaii, but it was going to be a while before reaching the coast of Asia. Had those girls really been sleeping that long, or was it just him? Now that he thought about it, that was probably the case. The other girls might have waken up and gone back to sleep before he even woke up.

Well, seeing as he was still tired and all alone on this plane, he decided to go to the back near Kim and go back to sleep. As much as he tried to deny it, sometimes he really did fear what Kim thought of him. He feared that if he ever lost her as a girlfriend, that meant losing her as a friend, too. On some of the teen shows that Kim and Ron (secretly) watched, when a boy and girl both felt worried about their relationship, they sometimes got the idea of seeing other people, and thus, relationship broken. So he tried not to say he was afraid when Kim said it first, and sometimes he would say it when Kim felt positive about it. Odd logic, but he didn't want to risk Kim.

She was so pretty when she was sleeping, and for once she didn't steal the covers or snore loudly.

Fade to black.

* * *

Several hours later, long after Ron woke up the second time, everyone was trying to keep themselves entertained. 

In the front, Jen was studying all of Yori's weapons. Both were now in heavier clothes as the weather was becoming colder. Since Jen usually handled firearms, rocket launchers and projectile weapons, she never really saw weapons made in foreign countries. She was most fascinated by the kitana sword blades that Yori had. These were actually a graduation gift from Sensei, as he created the weapons from scratch. It was perfect in every way. No scratches on the blade, no dents or even the tiniest of cuts on the fine edge. Jen didn't know much about ancient Japanese myth and legends, especially those that say that the best warriors created their own weapons and they were carefully crafted, but the way Sensei built this sword got her interested. Every other one of Yori's weapons also interested her because of how fine and sleek they were. Weapons probably used more than once, appearing in mint condition.

In the back, Kim was complaining about the magazine quiz that Ron secretly read while he gave her a back massage. They both also wore the new cold survival outfits Wade made them.

Ron had no idea there was so much she disliked about boys. Then again, when there's something you like a lot, there's always things you can nitpick about. Ron could do this all the time in games. He would do tweaks and changes here because some parts of the game weren't well-programmed. And for Kim, a lot of boys weren't well-programmed.

At school, nobody ever hit on her except for Mankey and Erik, and she thought it was because of her crime-fighting. Kim thought that guys feared a girl who could throw them out a window. It was quite the opposite, actually. Guys had actually been attracted to two kinds of girls; the ones who came off as strong, and the ones who came off as weak. The weak arguably could've been considered the innocents. Innocent girls are what some guys would usually dream about, something about a pure heart, soul, mind and body. The problem was, most innocents in Middleton were insecure and weak. By the time they realized they liked the girl, she was already pressured into joining a bad scene and was no longer the same person.

Val came to mind…

Anyway, the other girls on the cheerleading squad all had boys chasing them and flirting with them, and while Kim wasn't one for all the attention, she wondered why she was left out. There were a lot who said much, much later that it was because they didn't want to interfere with the inevitable, which to them was her dating Ron. To them, if they wanted to date Kim and actually managed to date her, they would create a time paradox. They actually respected her that much, if not feared her. Kim was extremely protective of Ron ever since they had their minds switched, and while Kim didn't like to admit it, many of her methods to convince people rivaled that of police interrogations. These were usually the bullies, anyway.

That didn't mean that Kim didn't like to say hi or talk to some other guys around the school. For example, she did become good friends with the boys in detention, some of the guys in D-hall, and after Mankey moved a month or two before Prom, some of the artists. That last one was probably because she complimented Dante Randal's huge painting of Death with a purple background showing an apocalyptic city in ruins. To them, that was a shock; a cheerleader who actually appreciated even the dark arts. Most of the others in the squad were quickly scared off because they feared such imaginations. Kim knew that some expressions of art were just that; expressions. To her it just looked… cool.

She learned that when she and Josh made the mutual decision to see other people. Josh was talented, but he was far from the most talented. Most of the other girls just liked him because he had good looks, a positive attitude and knew what to do with a paintbrush. Helping the school and community didn't hurt either. That's not to say it's a bad thing, but such actions only got him some more attention. Some of the artists Kim knew were jerks to her because she was a cheerleader, but that didn't stop her from complimenting their work at all. As she anticipated, they would all later apologize to her for their behavior. They had been criticized by so many people as long as they could remember, that a cheerleader complimenting them was a bit suspicious at first. She didn't blame them because Bonnie always complained about how dark and creepy a lot of those guys were, and she was very influential towards the other girls on the squad, even Kim at times.

It wouldn't surprise Kim if some of those guys liked her after that, and they did, but they feared she would reject them because they weren't of the same league. In fact, that's why many guys stayed away, but the ones that didn't fear Kim had obvious flaws. First, the biggest turn off for Kim was a guy who was skilled but extremely overconfident, acting like they were the second disciple of God. Arguably, Ron could be placed here, but she knew him long enough that it was usually a joke or something that wouldn't last long. But when they started dating, he stopped most of his attempts of trying to be cool or get attention. But some guys were huge, thinking they were all that, and a lot of them thought they were destined for Kim. Like Kim told Ron, muscles don't make a man. Second biggest turnoff? Guys that don't wear deodorant. Third? Guys who wear too much collogue. There was more though, and it was the usual 'guy' actions, like not looking at your eyes, making you pay the whole date, and how dumb they could be when they were with friends. She never really realized it until high school was over.

Ron had no idea Kim had so many peeves against guys, and this magazine said she should be going out with the ones she was complaining about. She just wanted someone who was cute, funny, and acted their age. For the last one, she had exceptions for Ron every now and then. He was funny when he was being himself, but when he was serious, watch out everyone. He could be a bit of a romantic or a formidable opponent. Kim also knew she wanted someone who knew her, who respected her, who could take care of her but could also handle themselves. There was no better person suited for those than Ron.

Shortly after Kim's venting, they switched positions. While Ron took about thirty minutes before he was done, it took Kim twice as long, seeing that her hands were much smaller than his and had to apply much more pressure. When Ron came back from his training in Yamanuchi, the results weren't easily visible, but the second she felt his hands press against her back, she stood corrected. It was a good thing Kim never said anything before or she would've eaten those words.

While she was doing that, she wanted to hear what was going on in Ron's head. He didn't want to bother Kim with his earlier thoughts about being the only guy in a team of four. Some guys would consider it a dream, but with Ron, it was kind of freaky. He also didn't say anything when any of Kim's nails dug deep into his skin. Maybe that's the reason they're called 'nails'.

Jen and Yori actually became friends quickly over the trip, discussing anything they had in mind. Jen was extremely curious as to what a ninja school was like, and since it was no secret where Yori attended, she gave the details, with the exception of its location of course. Yori tried holding back from mentioning Ron, as if she was slowly trying to let go, but it backfired. Jen told her not to hold anything back, because if you keep things in, it's going to come out one way or the other. She told herself she was going to go to Japan when this was all over. Handling weapons was one thing, but all the talk about honor and peaceful meditation really took her interest.

Yori also carefully explained that a lot of people get the impression ninjas are the coolest kinds of warriors who can perform unbelievable moves, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're always the good guys. Jen was well aware of this, however, and even though she never said it out loud, some of those she had to throw in jail were ninjas.

Yori also asked Jen a lot about her past and what she does. She was mostly interested in Jen's interpretation of death. Sensei always taught her that in this field, there will be times when a student has to take the last resort and kill somebody or be killed. Death was not something to be feared, but we live in a world where many people refuse to accept it. There would be times where you would have to end someone's life, or they would try to take yours. Sometimes Yori thought she understood completely, but often she felt she didn't. She sometimes wanted a second opinion, but Sensei did not wish to speak of it. It was something the student need to learn for his or herself if it ever came to that. His teachings were much different.

After having a nice discussion with Yori, Jen came to a realization. It was nearing 2 AM according to the navigational system, and they were nearing Tibet's far border around Everest where they suspected the nuke to be carried out.

Jen was speaking through the loudspeaker again. _"Hey you two, we're not too far off from our destination."_

Kim and Ron were long done with their messages, and Kim was actually painting Ron's nails, using him as a test subject for new colors. The two got up and started walking toward the cockpit, but Ron made sure he put his gloves on beforehand.

Kim hadn't been in the cockpit the entire day, and it was even more of a mess than when Yori originally arrived. There were comics, chips and CDs scattered everywhere, along with shuriken stars, two swords, fan blades and a bandana.

Jen turned to Kim, smiling. "Hey Kim. I thought I'd let you guys know that we were getting closer soon."

Ron tried to see why the cockpit was a mess, but Kim was blocking his way.

It took Kim a few seconds to stop looking at the mess. "So where exactly are we heading in the area, anyway?"

Jen giggled. "Glad you asked. I've got a hotel reserved for us in a small village near the south side of Everest. The White Diamond Inn."

Kim's eyes widened in awe. "The White Diamond Inn? No way, you're kidding."

"Nope. One huge suite for the four of us."

Ron could see just by the way Kim was shaking she was getting excited. It was one of the most expensive hotels in the world, a place the richest people would attend, and in a village out of all places. He covered his ears in case Kim yelled out 'Booyah' again. It wasn't because of its money value, but Kim couldn't help but feel that it would be the perfect place for some romantic getaway with Ron. The balcony, the dinner tables with violin players, a ballroom, something Kim used to have dreams about.

Suddenly…

_**THWACK**_

The plane abruptly shook as if another plane had hit it from the side, knocking Team Possible out of the room.

Jen quickly pressed several buttons on the navigation control, suddenly going into attack/defense mode. There were no other aircraft in the area. "What the hell was that?"

Suddenly, alarms and sirens started going off in the entire plane in almost deafening shrieks. Jen was almost fuming at the teeth when she saw the words on the navigation system.

MISSILE LOCK: 1 MISSILES APPROACHING

"You've got to be kidding me! This thing can't be tracked!" She didn't bother with the risk, so she slammed her fist on an emergency button, revealing two more empty seats in the cockpit behind her and Yori. Kim and Ron quickly strapped themselves in, grabbing their bags and holding them tightly. Rufus strapped himself in Ron's pocket.

Jen took the plane off of auto-pilot and held the controls as tightly as she could, almost enough to break them. The beeping of the approaching missile was becoming faster and faster, almost until it sounded like one long beep.

"BRACE YOURSELVES!"

Jen quickly spun the entire jet in a 720 degree motion to avoid a missile she couldn't even see. The visibility was terrible and it was dark, but everyone managed to see the missile fly right past them from behind.

Ron panted. "Geez, that was a close one."

Jen narrowed her eyes. "No… it's coming back…"

Sure enough, the smoke trail of the missile that passed them was turning around in a huge circular arc. Before long it was heading straight at them again.

"Here we go again!"

Jen waited until the last minute to do a hard left and rotate the plane in a 90 degree angle. They almost avoided it, as a loud clank could be heard from the back, but the missile failed to detonate.

"There. There's no way in hell that thing can come back."

On the contrary. The words MISSILE LOCK continued to beep madly.

_**THWACK**_

Another explosion rocked the plane, this time turning the room red as a new siren was going off.

DANGER: ENGINE 3 NOT RESPONDING

"We lost an engine?" Jen was in pure disbelief at this point, having no clue how that was possible. According to the radar's 'replay' feature, the missile somehow stopped accelerating, turned around, and accelerated right into one of the plane's four engines. Homing missiles shouldn't have been capable of this, especially small ones.

"Jen!" Kim yelled through the noise, "Does this thing have any weapons?"

"No! In a moment like this, we risk being killed more easily if those missiles strike one of our own! There's still no enemy appearing on radar!"

The sirens only got louder.

MISSILE LOCK: 2 MISSILES APPROACHING

Again, the missiles were coming from behind. Jen managed to avoid them again by spinning the plane into a 360, moving to the right, and trying to slow the plane down. The two missiles could be seen flying past them again, and Jen came to a conclusion when she studied them more.

"Those aren't standard military missiles! It's a damn stinger missile! Someone's using a freaking shoulder-mounted homing missile!"

Just when it seemed Jen had regained control of the plane, it appeared that the missiles that flew past them lost their fuel and stopped accelerating. They flew back, and again…

_**THWACK**_

The pitch of the sirens increased, almost rivaling the sound of a chalkboard being scratched several times.

DANGER: ENGINE 1 NOT RESPONDING  
DANGER: ENGINE 4 NOT RESPONDING  
DANGER: ONE ENGINE REMAINING

Jen finally realized what the missiles really were. "They're actually using Stinger Accel Missiles on us! But that's impossible! These things haven't even been approved yet!"

Stinger Missiles were designed to be fired by one person on a battlefield. The launcher itself could be carried on a person's shoulder, and the homing missile was great for taking out some bigger weapons. However, the missile itself was not the most powerful. Against an armored tank, jet or helicopter, it could dish some damage, but not a lot. It was an exchange; size for power.

The missiles being launched at the jet are modified Stinger Missiles. Not only does it have armor-piercing capabilities, but the missile would also be capable of accelerating and decelerating infinite times to reach its target. However, it is illegal in several countries.

Jen quickly unbuckled herself and grabbed her equipment. "Get the hell out of he-"

_**THWACK**_

The plane was rocked again by another missile, this time undetected, knocking Jen straight into the back. The navigation system now was red.

DANGER: ENGINES NOT RESPONDING

Jen was still yelling. "The engines are out! We've got to get the hell out of here!"

There was little time.

MISSILE LOCK: SEVEN MISSILES APPROACHING

Everyone did as instructed without thought. They quickly took off the seatbelts, grabbed all of their equipment nearby, and went for the emergency exits as fast as they could. Kim was the first to reach one, but stopped to grab a parachute as she always did. Jen shoved her aside and opened the emergency doors.

"Kim? What are you doing? There's no ti-"

_**THWACK**_

All seven missiles struck the plane at once, completely destroying the back of the plane. It also was strong enough to knock everyone off their feet and into the ceiling, floors and walls like they were in a pinball machine. Needless to say, everyone was knocked unconscious. Because of the winds outside, everyone was sucked out of the plane like a vacuum.

* * *

Several miles below, someone witnesses the fiery plane crash into the side of Everest through a scope, and it rocks the entire area with several massive explosions. Just when it seems it's all over, nine more small missiles attack whatever's left of the jet. 

The witness, a girl in her mid-twenties, puts the scope away and pulls out a walkie-talkie.

"Mission accomplished, my lord. The plane Team Possible and the others were on has been intercepted and destroyed."

"_Weapon used?"_

"Stinger Missile Launcher, Stinger Homing Missiles replaced with Stinger Homing Accel Missiles."

"_Brilliant work, V. You are to immediately head to the crash site and seek out survivors. If any of them are still alive, kill them immediately."_

"Yes, my lord. I am to assume the operation is to continue as planned?"

"_Affirmative. Excellent work, V. Excellent. Cutting transmission."_

The pig-tailed brunette in a trenchcoat put her all of her equipment away, including her missile launcher, and started sprinting across the snow toward the crash site.

"We'll see how long you all can survive in the desolate snow…"

Not many people can take out a plane with a shoulder-mounted missile launcher in the middle of a blizzard. Not many people can run in a blizzard, either.

* * *

The snow was fierce all right. Kim felt like she had been buried under an avalanche for a few hours, taking some effort to get out of it. 

"Ron?"

In fact, she wasn't that far off. The impact of the plane crash on Everest created a small avalanche, while something of that power should've caused a massive one. She could see the smoke a few miles from where she was at, but other than that, she couldn't see any of her teammates nearby.

Ron…

Yori…

Jen?

None of them could be seen in this weather and it was extremely dark. Kim could barely see a thing, even with the snow. Worse, the backpack she secured herself with was no longer on her back. The only real light was coming from her watch.

3:48 AM

Kim tried to see if Wade could shed some light, pulling out the Kimmunicator.

"Wade? Can you hear me? Wade?"

The Kimmunicator was spitting out nothing but static, and most of her weapons and toys were in her backpack. Either the blizzard was too strong, there was electromagnetic interference, or both. There was no civilization for… she couldn't even tell. It was far too dark and in every direction was snow.

Kim was stranded in the middle of nowhere, armed with nothing except her utility belt.

She then tried to see if there was anything useful in there. She found exactly what she was looking for, what appeared to be her small makeup kit with the round mirror. This was different than the one she used to reflect laser beams and see past corners, however. This one was actually a radar system with a touch screen. The signal was weak, but it provided minimal details, more than enough of what Kim needed. Fortunately, it could detect metallic objects within the area. There was something blinking on it about thirty feet to Kim's right. She knew it had to be her backpack, but there was a chance it was also someone else's equipment.

That didn't matter. Kim couldn't survive in the snow with no equipment, especially not in a blizzard like this. Even the shots to prevent hypothermia were in her bag. She wasn't going to survive in this blizzard for long without them.

It took Kim a good half hour to finally reach whatever was buried under the snow, as the winds had her walking into an unintended direction. She also found herself sinking almost entirely in the snow with some steps, and it took her a while to dig herself out.

Finally, she reached it, and just as she hoped, it was her bag. That's one problem solved, but now for the most important: Find all the other team members. Kim could only hope they all survived, especially Ron.

Suddenly, the radar started beeping. In the same direction, but much farther away, it was detecting something else… moving.

Could it have been a teammate?

Not caring whether or not it was, she started running straight as fast as she could, being slowed down by the storm and snow. She also didn't have all the energy she usually did, but she needed to get to whoever was moving, no matter the cost. Unfortunately, the rocket shoes didn't help much in this weather because of the unstable surface and thick snow. The winds would interfere if she tried to go airborne.

* * *

If heaven was supposed to be white, it looked like hell frozen over. That's the impression Ron got when he started coming to, his back laying flat on the snow. 

"KP, you stole the covers again…"

The first thing he did was grab his head. It was throbbing, but at least he was all in one piece. It took him a while to realize he was freezing in the middle nowhere in a fierce blizzard. He could hardly see anything with all the snow flying at his face, not to mention it was still dark.

'_Okay,'_ Ron thought to himself, _'Need something to see with…'_

Lucky for Ron, his backpack was still on, and he could feel Rufus vibrate in his pocket.

'_Better leave him there, he'll freeze if I let him on my shoulder.'_

Ron decided he would grab the first thing he laid his hands on, and it came in the form of his Ronoculars. However, when he hit the power button, it didn't work like he originally thought out. It was like a whole computer system accompanying the binoculars. It was much better than what Kim had, with adjustable brightness, zoom in and out, it had different seeking modes like thermal and night vision. Night vision was exactly what Ron went for. Now that the vision changed, he could see much better, but unfortunately, there were nothing but snow hills in all directions. But something beeped when he turned to his left. There seemed to be some kind of detection system built in, showing Ron a thermal view of someone unconscious a few hundred feet away.

Had to be one of the girls.

Ron tried whatever he could to move past the thick snow, but kept falling a few feet below with each step. Climbing back up didn't help, trying to shove the snow didn't help, and 'swimming' through out didn't help either. Something then came to mind.

"Those guys weren't kidding when they said Zero Smoothies were just as bad as the arctic, like Diablo sauce cold."

Diablo sauce.

Even though they weren't in the arctic, Ron didn't care; he got the perfect idea. He always carried several packs in his other pocket and grabbed about five of them. One was deadly enough, but he needed to clear a path. There was a theory he wanted to test, but Kim never let him for his own sake. Well, she wasn't around, and Ron was desperate. So he opened all of them up and sucked it down to the last drop.

From a distance, it looked like an explosion went off.

Instead, Ron virtually became a flamethrower, belching out a huge road of fire ahead of him. It lasted a good ten seconds, and he had to gain his breath back, but he cleared half the way. Instead of unstable snow, now Ron could see a lot of rock to lead the way. Unfortunately, the snow was much higher than he thought. He quickly and carefully went to the end of the road, making sure he didn't slip, and the snow that didn't melt stood at least four feet higher than he was.

Five more Diablo sauce packets, and Ron was ready to go.

After about four more explosions in the snow, the snow became less packed and Ron was able to move in it once more. He kept his hands on his Ronoculars to make sure he didn't accidentally go somewhere else and that whoever the unconscious teammate was, they were closely.

Ron had a few more hundred feet to go, but now he could see something buried in the snow. He came to realize something as he tried to sprint in the snow.

The storm was dying down.

This made things much easier for him, and he was finally able to see his fallen comrade, or what part of them wasn't buried. Since all the girls had black somewhere on them, it could've been any of them. He tried to wipe off whatever snow was around the area, and picked up the girl.

Yori.

She was injured. The first noticeable thing was that her leg appeared broken, and Ron could see why when he increased the brightness with his Ronoculars; there was a steep mountain wall next to them. There wasn't any telling if Yori was still alive because of that at first glance, so he put his index finger tightly on her wrist.

Her pulse was strong.

Also, her bag wasn't too far away, probably ten feet at the most. He decided to carry Yori over his back, piggyback style on his own backpack, and soon grabbed hers. It wasn't easy, but he thought he saw a light as he picked up Yori's unconscious body. Looking into the scope of his new toy, he saw a cave, but there was light coming out of it.

It obviously wasn't their hotel, but he had a bad feeling about it. He decided that's where he was headed.

He only hoped he could make it. Yori and her equipment combined weren't exactly light.

* * *

While the storm died down on Ron's end, it got much worse on Kim's end. Even wearing her helmet with the visors on them, she couldn't see anything. The visors would become blocked out by snow, and even after Kim wiped it all off, it was completely blocked again. All she could do is look down and go forward, having little to no idea where she was going. The radar indicated she was getting closer to her target, another moving person, but she must have been walking for an hour, and she could barely take it. The pain still going on in her head from being knocked out earlier didn't help either. In fact, it felt like it made things much worse. 

Suddenly, the dot that indicated the other person disappeared.

Despite being in Tibet a few times to save people trapped on Everest, Kim had no idea where she was. None of her navigation equipment other than her makeup kit/radar was working, the Kimmunicator was disrupted by the weather, and Ron was nowhere to be seen. She didn't even know if he or any of her other teammates were alive.

Even with that suit Wade gave her, she started feeling faintish with a lot of pain where she bumped her head. It got bad enough where she had difficulty moving her legs, as if the snow was purposely draining whatever energy she had left.

Out of the blue and without warning, Kim just lost the will to move on and collapsed in the snow.

"Sorry… Ron…"

Then she was out.

Ten minutes later, the sounds of footsteps in the snow where quickly approaching, and a dark figure noticed Kim's unconscious body.

"Oh, so close…"

* * *

Ron had a change of plan. Sure, the cave where he saw light was visible, but that didn't mean you could walk there, not unless you wanted to fall two thousand feet a few times to reach it. But his head was still hurting and he could barely carry Yori. The storm was starting to pick up again, and Ron didn't have the energy to move on as much as before. It was weird, he could do anything with Kim around, and he had done a lot of missions without her, but this time he felt weak. 

He needed to find shelter.

Just as the thought came up, he located a cave nearby. Its entrance was almost covered entirely by snow, but the wind wasn't blowing directly at it. It took him two minutes to reach it, and a few more to kick the ice off the entrance. The one thing he feared is if he found out he was kicking a frozen climber, but they weren't that high on the mountain. In fact, the plane crashed near where some mountain climbers begin their ascent.

Ron finally kicked all the ice out and was able to get inside. The cave was huge, and it was apparent he wasn't the first to find it. There was already a lot of firewood in the far and deep end of the cave, but Ron couldn't see that far in it. He had to use his binoculars to see it, and once he saw the green wood in them, he ate another packet of Diablo sauce and 'lit a fire'.

The fire alone lit the entire cave, and it was actually peaceful, minus the cold. There was one more thing he decided to do, try to hide the entrance with the snow and whatever ice he kicked down. When he was done, it wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad. Finally, he felt like he could rest, slowly taking Yori off his back and trying to put her in a comfortable position. He also let down his bags and pulled out whatever blankets to put her leg on. He knew how to put on a bandage or wrap a wound, but he didn't know much about how to take care of someone with a broken leg.

Yori seemed to be okay for the moment, and Ron was starving. He decided to see if there was any food in his bag.

The first thing he noticed was the new Bueno Nacho pack, he was so hungry and it sounded so good. He only wondered what was inside, and now that Rufus popped out, so did he.

Instead, Ron put it back. Rufus almost fell of his shoulder in shock.

"I know, dude, but… I can't keep all this stuff to myself."

He nodded his head toward the unconscious girl near him.

"If I eat all that, what's _she_ going to have?"

Rufus almost cried, but he understood and agreed.

So after the package was put away, Ron located some clothes and decided to use that to cover Yori. Surely a ninja outfit wasn't the warmest thing to wear in the cold. The fire did help a lot though, and while Ron would've preferred the hotel room over this, as long as the fire would burn, he, Yori and Rufus could survive the night. There was more than plenty of firewood to ensure that.

But Ron needed something in his stomach. Instead of the Bueno Nacho package, he sucked down a ration. He would have much preferred Bueno Nacho, but it would only be fair for Yori to have some too in this situation. There was no telling when she'd wake up.

Ron decided to lay down and get into a comfortable position, and soon he was out like one of the burning logs.

* * *

Kim was starting to awaken, but she had no idea where she was this time. She could last remember the snow, but now she was laying down on something hard and had something warm on her head. 

"Don't get up too fast."

As her eyes finally opened, she could see she was in a deep cave and what appeared to be fire. There was another girl adding some firewood to it, and while the light prevented Kim from seeing who the girl was, the silhouette was more than enough.

"Jen?"

"Just rest, Kim."

Her head was hurting a lot, and she wasn't sure what to make of things, but that changed in time. She saw her bags and equipment nearby, but she noticed her arm was hurting with a bandage. She also noticed a used syringe nearby.

"I have no idea how long you were out there, but I had to inject you with that because you were coming down with hypothermia. At least you're conscious. When I found you, you didn't look like you were going to make it."

'_Even with the suit Wade made…'_ Kim thought to herself as she leaned her head back, surprised that it was on a pillow. "So what happened…?"

Jen tossed another piece of wood in the fire. "We got shot down and separated. I found you about an hour after I woke up, but I had already located this cave and decided it was a good place to spend the rest of the night. The reason that suit of yours didn't work was because when the missiles hit us before we were thrown off the plane, it looks like you cut your head, and the cold must've gotten to it, even with your helmet on."

Kim just continued to stare at the top of the cave, now realizing she was wearing a blanket and covered herself with it. "How about the others? Ron and Yori?"

"I have no idea. I have these binoculars that can track a lot of things, and you were the only thing it picked up."

"I hope he's okay.. _they're_ okay…"

Jen seemed to be satisfied with the fire, grabbing a blanket and wrapping it around herself. "I hope so, but if Ron can handle the Bueno Nacho attack, I'm sure he can handle this as well."

Kim was worried. "I can only hope you're right." She let out a sigh. "It's all my fault, if I never went for that parachute we probably wouldn't have been separated."

"Kim, even if you didn't, not all of us would've made it out by the time we got hit. Don't fret on the past. We're here now and we've got some henchmen to stop."

Kim sighed. "So what's the plan?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. You're the leader in this group after all."

"Okay…" Kim was at a loss of words for the moment. "Rest and heal up, even if it's almost five in the morning. They'll be looking for us all morning, so if we head out by afternoon, they'll probably have given up by then…"

"And if they look for the caves, I already took the precaution and sealed the entrance from outside."

"Great."

"Well, good night."

Jen turned her back to the fire and was about to go to sleep.

"Wait, Jen?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for saving me out there."

"No problem. It's what I do."

A second later loud snoring could be heard. Kim may have just recovered, but she needed sleep too. She managed to sneak Pandaroo into her bag and held it tight, worried for Ron.

* * *

Far outside, a snowmobile comes to a stop a few miles away from the crash site. The rider pulls out a walkie talkie. 

"This is V reporting. No sightings in the southern area."

"_F here. I've got nothing in the east."_

"_This is E… There is nothing in the north…"_

"_G reporting. I got nothing in the west. What do we do now, commander?"_

"They're probably hiding out in the caves to rest. They'll come to us when they're ready. For now she should continue the preparations and await further instruction. Return to base."

V didn't realize that she was right on top of the cave where Ron and Yori were sleeping. She spun her vehicle around and sped off.


	12. 11: Obstruction

**Chapter 11: Obstruction**

_Before we start, I may trip the rating with a specific event, but it will be explained in a later chapter._

_Errors in this chapter were also corrected (though you might not notice them) Thanks to JPMod and Zaratan for bringing it to my attention! Thanks!  
_

_

* * *

_

When Kim wakes up, she usually expects to find Pandaroo somewhere in the same bed.

In Bay City, she expected Ron to be next to her, either sleeping or awake.

This time, it was only Pandaroo. No Ron. For Kim, it was quite a depressing way to wake up, now that she was becoming aware of where she was again; A dark and cold cave in the middle of nowhere.

"Oh, hey, you're finally up," a friendly voice echoed.

Kim let out a huge yawn and stretched, not realizing her survival suit didn't allow her to do it by much. "I can't believe I slept on a rock…"

As darkness was turning to light in Kim's vision, she noticed the fireplace was just as strong as she last remembered it, seeing Jen hold two objects near it.

"You think a rock's bad… Well, it's that or a blizzard… or what _was_ a blizzard, anyway."

Kim looked toward the blocked entrance of the cave. "It's died down?"

"It sure has."

Kim grabbed the side of her head, feeling only slight pain in it now. "What time is it…?"

"Noon."

"Noon?"

Jen giggled. "You went to sleep at five in the morning after all. But hey, you needed it, you were much worse off than I was. I only got a bump in the back of my head, you got bumped the top of your head and cut your left temple. It's a good thing it didn't give you frostbite."

Kim touched the areas Jen mentioned. "Ow… Thanks again. So… what are you doing?"

The blonde held up two boxes. "Making you breakfast and making myself lunch. Rations ahoy!"

Rations, a food item Kim kept packed in her utility belt but never used. As one would expect, the appearance and thought of an entire meal in a small box, sometimes large, that could stay fresh for some time before being opened was not a concept Kim liked. To her, rations were the army equivalent of space food. Her dad always told her the same thing, a huge meal like turkey, gravy, potatoes and green beans, all in one small package. It didn't look like it, barely tasted like it, and the taste got to her to the point where she couldn't stand it.

She decided to hide her disgust. "Rations? You know, I've never tried one of those…"

"Outside appearances aren't always anything," Jen replied as she exchanged eye contact with Kim.

She was able to read her thoughts by the unintentional disgust in her eyes, but it was either rations or starvation. After it looked like everything was done, she slid a container towards Kim.

"Chow down."

It looked like someone shoved eggs, bacon, sausage, steak and toast in a package, and it wasn't as small as the pictures indicated. Kim then took a deep breath and dumped half its contents down her throat, as opposed to using utensils like she always would, not that she nor Jen packed any. It was actually a bit too much to eat at once, so she took her time with consuming it. Jen actually took her time with hers, eating hers more delicately as opposed to how she ate everything else. They were out in the snowy wild, after all. Might as well enjoy the meal as if it were your last.

The sound of Kim swallowing her food echoed throughout the cave. "Not as bad as feared, better than my dad's space food."

"I've got a ton of these in my bag, so if you're hungry, let me know."

This took Kim by surprise. "That's awful nice of you to offer."

"'Share the wealth' I always say…"

Kim giggled. "You're just like Ron."

"Just not with money…"

Kim's face dropped. "And why is that? Greedy are we?"

Jen shook her head. "No, I don't mean to keep it for myself, it's just that last time I gave a homeless guy fifty dollars, he drank himself to death."

"Oh… Alcoholic… poor guy."

Jen had a full mouth. "No, actually he decided he was going to start drinking, got drunk and then got hit by a bus. True story."

"Oh."

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence between the two after that. Kim felt awkward that Jen managed to keep a straight face after that story, almost like it was funny. But before Kim could say anything, Jen tossed Kim another ration. Kim took a few seconds to look at the meal, then devoured it with ease.

It wasn't gourmet, but they could survive on this.

* * *

Yori was used to sleeping in harsh weather conditions. Well, she was used to being in harsh weather conditions for a long time. There was a time where Sensei made her meditate under a waterfall, as a test of the inner and outer strengths. The pressure of the waterfall was extremely intense and freezing cold, far too much to bear for many of the students. 

Yori was not among those who could not tolerate the waterfall's harsh conditions.

External pain was one thing, but internal pain was another.

Darkness turned into a dull blue light, and the sound of a fire could be heard, along with someone's presence.

"Don't touch it…" a young voice echoed. It was Ron.

"Stoppable-san? What… what happened?"

Just as Yori's vision became clear and saw his shadow on the wall, she could feel the immense pain in her leg. Ron appeared to be somewhere in the cave, but not within Yori's range of vision.

"I guess we were all knocked out of the plane," Ron answered. "I don't know what happened to Kim and Jen, but I found you near a series of sharp rocks, and I'm guessing that fall must've broken your leg, but I'm definitely no expert in medicine. The blizzard was too powerful to go through, but I managed to find this cave and light a fire. At least you're okay."

Yori sighed as she laid her head back. "I am sorry."

Ron was on the other side of the fire, tossing in more firewood. He stopped when he heard Yori's apology. "Sorry? About what?"

"In this condition I will only slow you down. I am sure the ones responsible for shooting us down are searching for us as we speak."

Ron didn't seem to be too concerned. "We're in a nice deep cave away from the crash site, Yori. No big. They should've given up by now. I would."

Yori weakly laughed. "Modest as always, Stoppable-san. I see you're still as brave as ever…" Her thoughts then went elsewhere. "So Possible-san and Ferno-san…"

"I have no idea, but I'm sure they're fine. It takes more than a fierce blizzard to take someone like Kim down, but I have no idea about Jen. If she's got weapons and a bit of military training, she could probably hold her own. I hope."

"Your confidence in the situation sure is soothing, Stoppable-san."

Unlike Ron, Yori was dead worried about their situation. If the snow was calm like on Mt. Fuji near the school, it was okay since Yori always knew where it was. But not only was she in an unfamiliar place in the world, but she was injured. Surely the cold would get to them soon. She kept asking herself why she was afraid, as she had gone through worse, and she was with Ron. Perhaps she was worried for Kim and Jen.

Her thoughts were disrupted when she noticed Ron got next to her and sat down. Rufus-san had been laying down near the fire, enjoying the heat.

Ron continued the conversation. "Eh, KP and I have been all over the world, so I guess I'm not worried. But your leg, that's what worries me."

Yori lowered her head. "My gravest apologies if my condition results in something happening to Possible-san and Ferno-san."

"I figured you'd have more faith in the situation like you usually do. You're usually the fearless one."

Yori was used to getting scratches, bruises, cuts and the like during her years at the ninja school, but she couldn't pinpoint what the pain in her leg was. Was this what a broken leg felt like?

"I know we'll get though this, Stoppable-san," she spoke with obvious nervousness, "It's just that this is just the first time such a thing has ever happened to me. We are taught not to fear such things, being alone in the wild, the cold snows, the scorching heat of the deserts, and probably with injuries, but we are also warned that we don't know the fear until we experience it."

"Sensei's teachings, eh?"

Yori let out a weak smile. "As usual." She signed on remembering Sensei. "I must admit, I do miss the school."

Ron smiled. "It's your home."

"I suppose it is."

Ron then pulled out his Bueno Nacho pack and was able to open it. The Guacanaco 2.0. And the reason it's named 2.0? Two in one meal. He held of these to Yori.

"I figured we should have lunch…" he nervously chuckled.

Yori smiled. "You are too kind. This is…?"

"Bueno Nacho."

Yori took the modified naco and inspected it curiously. "Ah, the food you spoke so highly of."

"Try it."

Ron smiled as a loud crunch echoed throughout the cave. It would take Yori a while to get used to the taste, but she was too hungry and honored to eat something Ron offered her. She almost blushed when she noticed Ron was eating his naco slowly and delicately – definitely not the way he ate his food when they went to search for Sensei – but it was probably not an act to woo her. It was probably the closest thing to a date she would ever have with him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kim and Jen were already outside on the empty snow fields in an attempt to make their way toward any kind of civilization, namely the small village Jen got reservations to. They had left no traces of their arrival in the cave in case any of Elurt's hands were still looking for them. 

It was early in the afternoon now, still a bit cloudy, but there was no blizzard present.

Kim sighed in relief. "So much better…"

"Sure beats out yesterday," Jen remarked, "Now we can actually see where we're going."

One of Kim's eyelids closed halfway. Jen was walking backwards and gazing at the clouds. Seeing where she was going was the last thing on her mind.

"Uh, Jen?"

"Is this about me walking backwards again?"

"Um, yes?"

"I told you, I don't care."

"Okay then…"

The tone in Kim's voice was clearly pointing out that Jen was doing something wrong. They had been walking for some time, to the point where the snowy path came to an end. Before Jen could ask what Kim meant by what she said, she lost her balance, and seeing that the weight was all on her back, she fell back and tumbled down a steep hill. Kim rolled her eyes as she looked over and saw the lifeless body with an arm raised.

"I'm okay!"

Kim slid down the hill like riding a snowboard. Jen had already pulled her face out of the snow and was on her feet by the time Kim arrived.

"Told you that you should've been paying attention," Kim teased.

Jen had an embarrassed look on her face, but mixed with an evil curve in her eyes. "And you're not?"

Kim had a delirious look on her face. "No. Why?"

Jen turned away and continued walking. "Your fly's open."

Kim quickly turned red and realized her fly was indeed open, but with the gloves she was wearing she couldn't put her fingers on the zipper. It wasn't a surprise to Jen when Kim accidentally fell down as her zipper got stuck.

"I got it!" Kim yelled with her back in the snow.

Jen chuckled, but saw that Kim's Kimmunicator fell out. "How's your communication thing working?"

Kim did a front somersault to put herself back on her feet, seeing that her device was still spitting out static. "Nothing."

"Must be an electronic interference."

"Probably. I guess other than those binoculars and my radar we don't have much to go on. Not that a map would help us much either since we don't know where we're at."

Several more minutes passed, and Kim was starting to grow impatient in the search for Ron and Yori. She was constantly spinning to see if the radar would pick up anything on the two, but no deal. Jen wasn't surprised when Kim soon collapsed from dizziness.

Jen kneeled down and offered her hand. "Worry much?"

Kim sighed as she accepted the offer. "I just have this thing with worrying about him, I guess. If you had someone you cared about, wouldn't you be worried if you hadn't heard from them all night, especially in this weather?"

Jen traded a skeptical look with Kim. "I thought you two traveled the world. Oh, I get it, you like to watch over him."

Kim sighed. "Sorry, I should probably be more focused on getting out of here alive."

"Relax, the injection I gave you should prevent you from getting hypothermia, at least that's what the label said. It's not a blizzard again. And don't worry about Ron, I'm sure he'll be fine. I hope Yori is, too."

"Yori…"

* * *

Ron and Yori were still in their cave with Rufus, finishing up the meal. 

The sound of Yori swallowing the last of her meal echoed the cave. "That was quite a tasty meal, Stoppable-san. This was called what again?"

"The Guacanaco 2.0. Not bad, but they'll need a little chili sauce next time."

Ron usually would let out a large burp to finish the meal, but he didn't want to appear rude or gross to Yori, even though he didn't pull back with Kim. Instead, Rufus was the one who did it.

"You should leave, Stoppable-san. I'm useless in this condition…"

Ron scoffed. "Yori, we've already talked about this, if I head out, you're coming with me, and vice versa. Kay? Kay. Even if you can't fight, we still need you on this."

Yori just sighed. "So what now? Are you going to wait? We require more equipment if my leg's going to heal."

"I probably will," Ron spoke with no remorse.

Yori sighed. "The endurance-level training at Yamanuchi was very hard on us. Often we would finish the day with bruises and cuts on various areas of our bodies, and we would go at it again the very next morning. However, I do not recall any of the students actually breaking their bones. I am sorry, but this is why I feel afraid for us."

Ron decided to change the subject. "Hey Yori, can I ask you something?"

She was a bit nervous. "I…I suppose. Sure."

"What was life like before you went to Yamanuchi?"

Instead of answering, Yori grabbed her equipment and was able to get up, grabbing a stick next to her to keep her up.

Ron tried to stop her. "Yori, what are you doing?"

Yori refused to look at him. "I do not wish to talk about it."

She made her way to the bright sunlight at the other end, but turned back to Ron with an unfriendly look on her face.

"Come on, Stoppable-san. We have much to do…"

She then walked out. Baffled, Ron exchanged looks with the naked mole rat on his shoulder.

"What was _that_ about…?"

Rufus shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno…"

* * *

"We haven't found any bodies at the crash site." 

V was inspecting the remains of the crashed jet, alone.

"_They must have escaped. Intensify your search efforts."_

"Oh, don't worry, I know exactly where they are."

"_Is that so? Then why haven't you killed them?"_

"They were expecting us. Why not give them the satisfaction of thinking they're safe? We'll take them off guard."

"_How do you propose you do that?"_

"I've sent F and G after one team and E after another. They'll have no idea what's coming."

"_Be careful. You know what happened last time."_

"I'm fully aware. Should anything happen, I'll finish them off with 'the weapon'."

"_Report to me should your plans go array."_

"I highly doubt that. We have the advantage in this weather. All of us."

"_Only a fool underestimates their enemy. They'll be surprised… Ending Communication."_

Through her own binoculars, V could see not only the heat signatures of Jen and Kim, but Ron and Yori as well. They must have been several miles away.

* * *

Two hours after leaving the cave, the storm started to pick up again on Kim and Jen's part, slowing the two down as they braved the cold winds. 

"Looks like we're in for it again!" Jen shouted as she covered her eyes.

Kim didn't agree. "I think something else is at work here!"

To Kim, the weather didn't go sunny one second and then into a hell storm the next unless a weather machine was involved. Jen, being from Colorado, was used to weather instantly changing. She pulled out her binoculars to inspect the area for anything suspicious, knowing what Kim had in mind. Instead of finding a weather machine, her binoculars locked onto someone out far ahead from them. It was a little girl who appeared lost, wearing little more than ordinary clothes with a white jacket.

"Kim! It looks like we're not the only ones out here! Check this out!"

Jen raised her binoculars in the air and let them go, allowing the wind to send it Kim's way. She caught it easily and took a look for herself.

Kim almost gasped. "She's got to be at least seven or eight! C'mon! She won't survive this weather with what she's wearing!"

Kim tried to fight the winds as she hurried toward her new target. Jen followed. Perhaps this child would also know the area, assuming she's a native.

* * *

The weather was getting darker on Ron and Yori's end. She chose to stay ahead of Ron, using the stick from the cave to keep her moving as her left leg was limping the entire way. Ron was now more concerned than ever, not because how long she would last, but also because of her attitude. She was silent for the last two hours. 

He was also quite perplexed. Something he said must have offended her or gotten her uncomfortable. All he asked was how life was before Yamanuchi, then she suddenly went from her usual calm attitude to just plain quiet. She was hiding something all right, but was it something he wanted to know? Often he would ask this question when Kim hid some… personal things from him, and later he regretted forcing the answer out of her. But this was about Yori's past, what things were like over ten years ago. It wasn't a question on mood swings or accidentally grabbing strange personal items from Kim's backpack when Wade gave her a new toy, which forced her to chase him across town, but just a curious question on Yori's childhood.

Some people enter martial arts schools not only to gain defensive and offensive experience, but also spiritual. A lot of people become practitioners or monks because they want to clean their soul of the bad things they regret, usually to become a new, stronger person… perhaps this was why Yori entered Yamanuchi? But why? She always seemed happy to Ron. How could someone like her suffer a terrible past if that were the case? Was Yori abused as a child, turned into a child soldier, or did things she regretted heavily? Ron didn't like the thoughts that came to his mind, but Yori realized what Ron was doing and decided to break his silence, as well as his concentration.

"Stoppable-san… I am sorry. I know it's not like me to become quiet all of a sudden, but…"

"Yori, it's cool. I didn't think something like that was a touchy subject, but if you don't want to talk about it, it's okay."

'_Stoppable-san… always understandi-"_

The snow under Yori instantly collapsed, sending her below. Ron ran in after her without a second for thought, but she was in no serious danger, as the pit she fell into was only three or four feet deep. She obviously lost her footing, and her stick was out of reach.

To her surprise, Ron didn't even ask if she was okay. He just picked her up and carried her piggy-back style again.

"Stoppable-san? What are you-?"

"Yori, come on, you can't walk on one leg forever."

Yori smiled. "You still know how to handle a situation."

Ron just smiled back as Yori wrapped her arms around him.

"Hang on, I don't want you falling off now."

Yori weakly giggled. "I won't."

* * *

It took Kim and Jen a good half hour to reach the little girl in the storm. They kept yelling at her to get her attention, but she kept on moving away as if intentionally ignoring them. Now, the small girl, wearing a white coat and boots with blonde hair, was so close that she couldn't ignore them anymore. 

"Hey!" Jen cried out.

The small girl slowly turned around to find Kim kneeling near her.

"Who're you?"

Kim offered her hand. "Kim Possible, teen hero. This is Jen."

Jen was panting. "Hi."

Kim appeared friendly and open. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

The girl turned away. "That's nothing for you to be concerned about."

Jen gave it a shot. "You're not going to last long out here with just that. We're here to help… speaking of which, you wouldn't happen to know where a small village called Sven is, do you?"

The girl nodded. "We're about fourteen miles southeast of it."

Kim rose up. "Thanks."

She offered to take the girl with her, but the girl slapped Kim's hand away.

"I don't need your help."

Jen disagreed. "You mean you're okay out here alone?"

"I said I don't need your help," the small girl retorted.

Kim and Jen weren't sure what to do. Surely the girl would freeze to death out here, but she didn't want help.

Kim was getting adamant. "Please, we only want to help…"

"NO!" the girl cried. "Just get away from me… Get away… get away… get away!"

Suddenly, the winds grew to their strongest speeds, knocking both Kim and Jen off their feet.

The small girl, however, stayed firm in her position. "This is what happens when you get too close! Now you've done it!"

Kim and Jen were both blown further away as they got up, so they kept low. Then they noticed a familiar sound.

Laughing.

The small girl was laughing at them.

"You're both going to die out here! No one can stop us from achieving our ultimate goal!"

Kim and Jen couldn't believe it. It was one of Elurt's Hands, E.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ron had finally gotten a reading on three heat signatures on his binoculars. 

"I'm getting something… That can't be Kim and Jen…"

Yori was still resting on his back, looking away so the snow wouldn't blow in her eyes. Ron came to a stop when he realized this surroundings. There were several huge sharp rocks in all directions, creating an massive and empty circle of snow. He was just in the middle when he came to realize it. The visibility was also starting to grow worse.

He couldn't help that something was wrong, and soon, Yori too felt this.

"Stoppable-san… I don't think we're alone…"

Ron narrowed his eyes. "How many are you guessing…?"

"Two…"

Ron smirked. "The same number I came up with…"

Just then, the ground started to violently shake, sending several flakes of snow everywhere. Yori tightened her grip on Ron, who knelt low to avoid losing his balance. A huge explosion of snow appeared before him, almost blinding him. Trying to see past it, he saw a huge silhouette jump from under the ground and land before him. When the snow was clear, Ron was making eye contact with a familiar face.

"Ready for a rematch, punk?"

It was G, the giant of Elurt's hands who Ron knocked out on his earlier visit.

Instead of getting into a stance, Ron slowly walked to his side. One would assume he was going to refuse to fight and walk away, but he kept his eyes on his enemy the whole time. After about forty steps, he put Yori down.

"Stoppable-san?"

"Yori, you're in no condition to fight."

Ron said no more. He walked back to where he started as he kept staring at his enemy. The second he took his last step, Ron let out a crazy battle cry and got into a fighting stance.

"I'm ready to take you on again, big man!"

The giant in the tuxedo only laughed. "You're not just fighting me."

Ron got out of his stance. "Huh?"

From behind, another Hand popped up from under the snow, wielding two swords. With a maniacal look in his eyes, he swung both of them at Ron's neck. Not even watching, Ron was able to avoid it by somersaulting high into the air and landing behind the second bodyguard.

The second Hand appeared to be much shorter, especially in contrast to his partner, having tattoos all over his body and with a maniacal look in his eyes. He also had a thing with licking his swords on the sharp edges, and the cold weather didn't seem to be affecting him at all. F, one of the Hands Kim met much earlier.

"Not so bad for a buffooooooon!" F mocked. "It looks like it's going to be a red Christmas, after aaaaaaallllllllll!" Following that was a maniacal laugh that Ron could've sworn started an avalanche elsewhere.

G slammed his fists together, which somehow created a shockwave that sent only Ron flying back in the snow. Yori gasped as she saw this, but she was completely helpless.

Ron was quick to get up, wiping all the snow off from his suit. He got back into a fighting stance, staring at his two opponents.

F laughed. "He honestly thinks he can take us ooooooooooooon!"

G shook his head. "You don't seem to know when to give up, do you small fry?"

Ron answered quietly. "Never was a quick learner…"

The battle began. F was the first to make his move, doing a backflip and jumping off of G's massive belly, lunging towards Ron. He kept still as F was getting closer, and without any warning, he grabbed F's wrists in midair and did a backflip as he placed his foot on F's neck. He landed upward on top of his opponent's neck, and he was able to steal both his opponent's weapons.

F was frantic as he got up. "Give those back!"

Ron instead teased him while moving the swords around. "Nuh uh. Finder's Keepers!"

F growled, desperate to get what he thought was rightfully his. Again, he decided to jump high and come down on Ron. Ron took advantage of the swords, slamming them downward to propel himself upward, kicking F straight in the jaw with both feet, knocking him into the snow below.

Ron laughed when he resumed his stance. "How's that for a buffoon?"

F was pissed off beyond thinking. "G, what the hell are you dooooooooooing? Kiiiiiiiiiiill him!"

"With pleasure!"

G was much bigger than the sumo ninjas Ron had fought in the past, the size of his fist was probably able to squeeze Ron to death if he grabbed him. Instead, he had something different in mind, clapping his hands together near the snow, knocking Ron back with a ton of snow to bury him in.

Ron was quick to get up from this attack, coughing out a lot of snow. "Oh, great, _now_ you guys get tough."

G laughed. "We've gotten 'adjustments'…"

Ron was against a maniacal swordfighter with no swords, and a giant who kept Ron at a distance.

How was he going to get out of this?

The storm began to pick up again.

* * *

Kim and Jen had their hands full with E. The small girl was somehow controlling the storm, sending the fiercest of winds to knock them and any of their projectile weapons away. 

"That's right! Let the winds of earth send you to hell!"

Kim found it awkward that she was being owned by a girl who was almost two feet smaller than she was. But she couldn't see with all the snow blowing her way. What could she do? Her grappling hook would probably come back and whack her in the head, kind of like that one time Ron… well, put Kim's old nickname "Bubble Butt" back to use and distracted her when she shot it in the air, then came down and crashed onto her head, knocking her into the lake near Dementor's lair. But she also tried her rocket shoes and as before, they didn't work in such deep snow.

Jen didn't have it in her to shoot the little girl, and she already used most of her Flash/Stun grenades but with no effect, just like her hacked information said. It also didn't help that most of the grenades she hurled at her enemy flew behind her and Kim before they detonated.

Kim still got an idea with her grappling hook; use it as an anchor to pull herself forward. It appeared like it was working at first, but soon it appeared useless as the snow wasn't thick enough to hold her in place, and the hook wouldn't penetrate the rock under.

Finally, she got an idea with her earlier thought, instead of aiming the grappling hook closer to her opponent, aim it past. So she did, and E laughed when it barely flew past her head.

"Hah hah! Missed me!"

Or did she?

The winds quickly sent the hook backward, sending it on a collision course with the back of E's head. Sure enough, the hook grabbed her head and forced her face down into the snow. The winds started to die down immediately, giving both Kim and Jen the advantage. While Kim retracted the hook, Jen went straight for the offensive and went to find the girl.

Only one problem, she wasn't where she fell. It was like the snow consumed her. She must've gone underground.

Before the two could get into defensive stances, E flew out from behind Jen and grabbed her head, trying to twist it in an attempt to snap her neck. Jen was trying to fight it but couldn't knock the small fry off.

"K..ii..mm..! Nooo…w…!"

Kim wasn't exactly one who liked to knock out children, but this was just another one of those days. After all, they were dealing with a psychotic one. Realizing this, she quickly went to help Jen, pulling the girl's hair with no effect. She clung on like a magnet. As a last resort, Kim jammed the palm of her hand into her neck.

E fell like a rock.

At this point, Jen was on her knees and breathing for air. "Thanks, Kim. I owe you one."

Kim lent out her hand. "So not the drama, and besides, I think we're even. You did save me in the blizzard yesterday, after all."

Jen took Kim's hand and got up. "Oh, right, right… Can't believe this little creep tried to snap my neck…"

The two then looked at the girl's body. Kim decided to check for a pulse. She soon started to check all kinds of areas, almost frantically.

"Kim? What's wrong?"

"She's not breathing and doesn't have a pulse! This is so the drama!"

Jen was surprised. "What?"

Kim was starting to freak out. "Did… did I just kill her? But I… she…"

Jen knelt down to check her breathing and pulse, but nothing.

The girl was dead.

Jen was quick to see the look on Kim's face. "Kim, calm down. It wasn't your fault! It was her or us!"

Kim was hyperventilating. "Jen! That girl was probably only eight! I mean, she's only a kid! What have I done?"

To Jen, this was just like her first kill. "Kim, relax! Breathe!"

Kim did so for about five minutes.

"I can't believe I just killed someone."

"Kim, listen. Everyone gets sick the first time it happens, but you have to look at the circumstances. Also, look what she's wearing, she was bound to get frostbite just wearing a jacket and a small skirt. She's the enemy, Kim, in a war involving a nuke."

Kim didn't respond.

"Look, something like this was… well, bound to hap-"

Kim's voice was shaky. "I'm no killer, Jen. I'm not the type of person who goes into battle to take names. I try to stop people from destroying the world, not take them out completely. How were we to know if this… girl had anything else to live for?"

Jen shook her head. "Kim, Elurt's Hands are so loyal they're willing to die for him. This girl is no exception. I'm sorry, but… you're just going to have to… well, deal with it. You're not a killer, Kim. It's just some things that happen…"

Jen wasn't an expert on how to make people feel good, since she knew no others who were forced to take lives other than herself and her grandfather.

Just then, a small beeping noise came from E's body.

Jen popped the question. "Kim… you don't suppose they already know, do you?"

Kim picked up E and inspected her jacket. "No… That's not a communication beep… That sounds like a…"

She located a small glowing bracelet on the small girl. It had a small display on it: 02:13.06. It was counting down.

"… self-destruct timer!"

E had a self-destruct mechanism in a bracelet on her arm, programmed to begin if she were grievously wounded or killed. Of course.

Jen put a hand on Kim's shoulder. "Come on."

Kim sighed and got up. Since the girl was already dead, there was no use in removing the device… if it could be removed, that is.

Two minutes later, an explosion rocked the area, causing a small avalanche that buried whatever was left of E.

Both were extremely uncomfortable as they continued on. Kim felt miserable, accidentally killing an enemy in E's small size, and Jen could sympathize completely.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Kim."

Kim sighed. "You were right. It was something bound to happen. I mean, look at me, I save the world, and like you said, some people just won't stop until they die. I can't believe I didn't see it when I started this whole saving the world thing. Save the world, train in martial arts styles, get all sorts of gadgets, toys and weapons, and now I'm dealing with some nuclear threat. Now it hits me. I drafted myself into a war I wasn't ready for. I just wanted to help people and at the same time live my own life. Look at me, I'm a high school cheerleader with death on her hands…"

Jen was concerned, but calm. "Look, Kim, you're overreacting, but I understand. Vent if you need to."

"Thanks… I'll try to keep as far as annoying as I can."

Right then, a small beeping noise could be heard from Kim's pocket. It wasn't the Kimmunicator, but her small radar device.

Kim's mood instantly changed when she pulled it out and looked at it. "It's picking up four heat signatures… Can it be Ron and Yori?"

"Where?"

Kim pointed forward. "East! Come on!"

She quickly grabbed Jen's hand and ran off, not realizing she was dragging her colleague through the snow.

* * *

If there was one phrase Ron could think of that described his situation, it would be 'Sucks to be me'. 

For the last half hour, both F and G were toying around with him. F would go back and forth on fighting Ron despite his low experience in hand-to-hand combat, and every time it looked like Ron had him, G interfered, slamming the ground with his fists or feet and taking over until his partner recovered.

Yori found it almost unbearable to watch the fight. Despite that she told herself she'd accept Kim and Ron as a couple, her feelings for him in all of this took over. Seeing him being slammed, cut, knocked off his feet and slammed again into just about every sharp rock was too painful, and she couldn't do anything about it. She wouldn't last in the fight with her bad leg, and her projectile weapons were useless in this weather, which was also affecting Ron's ability to fight back. But Ron didn't just put her aside, he put her far enough so she wouldn't interfere.

Once F was able to get his swords back, G had his way with Ron, beating him endlessly with punches, kicks, and especially body slams. Despite his size, he was fast, not allowing Ron to recover from any hits or blows, practically slaughtering him.

Now, G was getting tired of Ron, whose face was still in the snow, but now with a ten-foot foot hovering over him, ready to crush him.

"You bore me, runt. Any last words?"

Before Ron could muffle out anything, the storm began to instantly die out. The skies cleared and the winds came to a quick halt.

F, who was bleeding and cut in all sorts of places, was the first to realize everything. "E… she must have faiiiiiiiled."

G took his foot away from Ron, looking west. "E… failed? How is that possible? We had better contact V on…"

"No!" a girl's voice cried.

The two hands turned their attention to the ninja girl far away. Now that the winds had completely died down, Yori pulled out two shurikens and threw them straight at the two. By the time they realized what she did, they could feel a sharp metal poke on their necks.

They fell down with sickening thuds, their shadows becoming red.

Ron could barely move in all of this, so Yori used whatever strength she had to get to him. When she got there, she was able to pull him out of the snow.

"Stoppable-san?"

…

"Stoppable-san?"

"…ughh… I'm going to feel that in the morning…"

"Stoppable-san!"

Yori quickly gave Ron a tight hug - if not a small kiss on the cheek - when she heard him, but he was pretty beaten. He was barely conscious, unable to feel the small peck she just gave him.

"Yori…? You okay…?"

"Thanks to you…" Yori's face then went bitter. "But what were you thinking? I know you're a very brave warrior, but that was just overdoing it!"

Ron coughed. "Hey, had to do what I had to do. I wasn't going to let them hurt you either, especially not in the condition you're in."

Yori couldn't hold her angry face. "Only a true warrior protects those he cares about over himself…"

Then the beeping noise. The two could easily see G's bracelet from where he was at, as well as the digits that were counting down on it.

2:57.45

"It's a self-destruct thing, Yori…"

The way Ron moved his hand, it was almost like he instructed her to leave alone.

"Stoppable-san, I _refuse_ to leave you behind."

Ron scoffed. "Are you kidding? I'm not staying here! But I can barely move…"

He was just trying to prevent the sunlight from blinding him. But now that they were aware of a self-destruct timer, they knew it was time to make their move. Unfortunately, the immense pain all over Ron's body slowed him down, and Yori was no faster with her bad leg.

"Yori… I can't believe you killed them…" Ron weakly groaned.

Yori hung her head. "I know… it's the first time, but I am a ninja… even though I was taught by Sensei's wisdom… and besides… I needed to do it to save you… all of us. If they were able to contact this 'V' person, that would've been it… And I couldn't bear to see them beat you like that…"

Ron didn't know what to say to that.

"Ron!" It wasn't Yori's voice.

The two turned to see both Kim and Jen behind them, already aware of their situation. Both girls ran as fast as they could, but Kim didn't stop when she grabbed Ron, nor Jen with Yori. They still had plenty of time before the self-destruct timer went off, but they wanted to get as far away from it as possible.

* * *

V was watching the four speed away from the area, but also watched two of her colleagues self destruct. Like E, they were also buried in snow before any visible remains could be seen. 

"So they know of our second weakness… I suppose we have underestimated them, but they won't be able to handle the weapon… But not now…"

* * *

Finally, the team was reunited and for the moment, everything was safe. While Kim and Ron agreed they wouldn't do any moves on each other in the presence of others, Jen was more focused on Yori's bad leg, as with Yori herself. Because their attention wasn't on Kim and Ron, the two took the moment to share a short but hard passionate kiss. After all, it had been a day since they saw each other, not truly knowing if the other was alive. By the time Jen was done inspecting Yori, the two had already let go of each other, appearing as if they had been standing there the whole time doing nothing, despite Ron's injuries. 

"Hey Kim, your mom's a doctor, right?"

Kim inadvertently chapped her lips. "Not that she'd be able to help us, why?"

"She must've taught you some things… can you check out Yori's leg?"

Kim shrugged. "Sure…"

Yori's leg did look out of place, but Kim carefully inspected it. She was quick to draw a conclusion.

"It's dislocated."

Ron was surprised, now kneeling as most of his strength was still drained. "I thought it was broken… but you're the medical girl… not me."

Kim grabbed Yori's knee, ready to cause irreparable pain. "Yori, I've got to put it back in place. So…"

Yori nodded as she bit her lip.

Ron and Jen looked back as a loud pop echoed the area, followed by a louder but held-back scream. This wasn't a pleasant experience for Ron to witness, even with his eyes covered.

Ron almost pushed Kim out of the way. "Yori, are you okay?"

"Ow…" was her answer.

Kim then grabbed Yori's arm and helped her up, allowing herself to be her support. "Might want to go easy on that for a while."

Yori let out a weak smile. "Thank you, Possible-san."

"No big."

Yori's leg was back to normal, for the most part, but Ron still felt pretty beaten. Kim didn't even realize that he was bleeding from various places and covered with minor cuts, but she was quick to put two and two together - Two dead Hands + Ron injured …

"Ron, don't tell me you went to fight those two alone."

Ron chuckled sheepishly, only confirming the answer. But instead of getting upset, Kim was more concerned with how beaten he appeared.

"Come on, we'd better find someplace so you can rest, babe."

Jen pointed to her right. "Cave at four o'clock."

She then mimicked Kim's earlier action, grabbing Ron's arm to help him up, using herself as his support.

Yori's eyes wandered as if she were sensing something. "The storm is ready to pick up again. We had better hurry."

Kim and Jen nodded and went toward the cave, carrying Ron and Yori with them.

* * *

This cave was deeper than the one Ron and Yori rested in, but it was huge. In fact, the team thought they had entered some ancient ruins. While the cave was about the size of Kim's house, it was decorated. Small waterfalls, ancient goddess statues, and whatever diamond-like rocks hung from the roof of the cave lit the place in an almost surreal blue glow. Most pleasing was that in the middle was a huge, huge hot spring pool. 

Everyone's jaw dropped at the sight of all this, but Jen went completely berserk.

"Holy crap on a pogo stick! This is like the coooooleeessst thing I've ever seen!"

The other three had no idea what was coming to them. Jen quickly pulled out a camera and took pictures, and by the time everyone got a grasp what was going on, Jen had already pushed everyone together for at least eight group pictures.

"I am so going to show my daddy this! I mean, look how beautiful it is! And a hot tub… I mean spring! Spring!"

In less than a few seconds, the blonde took off all her clothes minus a two piece blue swimsuit and dove into the hot spring.

"Ooohhhhhhhh yeeeeaaaahhhh…" she moaned. "Well, what are you guys waiting for? The water's hot!"

Kim covered her face briefly. "And I kept telling myself I wouldn't need my two piece, and I brought it anyway."

Oddly enough, she did the same action as Jen did, pulling off her clothes, revealing a two-piece green bathing suit and dove into the hot spring, clearly showing what she learned in swim team. She also let out a bizarre moan the second she rose from the pool, almost melting in the heat.

Yori actually followed suit, quietly taking off her ninja garb, revealing her own red two-piece and walked in. It appeared the risk of a cramp didn't concern her.

Ron on the other hand was in shock. Seeing the girls go from snow survival gear into swimwear was one thing, but seeing them like _this_ was another. Totally unexpected, and he was red all over. So this is what happens when you forget to cover your eyes and look away.

Kim waved to Ron, trying to get his attention. "Come on, Ron! This feels so good!"

Ron just dropped his bag, hid behind a rock to change, and approached the pool with nothing but polka-dot swim trunks. He could've sworn his Bueno Nacho meal came to life in his stomach when he got a closer view of all the girls. He had seen girls in bikinis before, but they weren't three girls he knew. Without realizing it, he fell into the pool, belly and face first.

Jen just blankly stared at him. "That looked pretty painful."

Kim just raised a hand and flapped it over, like a 'whatever' gesture. "He does it all the time when he and I go swimming."

Yori let out a small giggle. "Beaten and still has time for his American-style humor."

Ron slowly sat upward as the girls did, but instead of a relaxed smile, he had a baffled frown.

'_How come these kind of things only happen to me?'_ he thought to himself.

Any guy in this situation probably would've thought they were in heaven, sitting in the same hot spring as three attractive young teenage girls, one being a gunslinger, a ninja, and the girl who saves the world, but Ron felt awkward more than anything. Clearly seeing these three in two piece swimsuits was the last thing he expected to see them in when they all first met (excluding Kim since they were too young), especially on a mission and the situation they were all in.

'_How could this get any more weird?'_

He just had to ask. He started turning even more red when he noticed all of the girls were staring at his chest. They didn't even seem notice the odd curve on his lips.

"Ron…" Kim started. "Have you been working out?"

"Uh… yeah?" he nervously answered. "I guess I… uh… comes with the training, you know?"

Yori giggled. "Surely he is referring to his training at the Yamanuchi school."

Jen nodded. "Uh huh, that and probably carrying Kim around all the time."

Kim curved an eyebrow. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Jen giggled. "Oh, nothing… nothing…"

Ron then realized something. "And I've also been, uh, sparring with KP."

Jen laughed. "Oh, right, like that time you accidentally took off her belt and her pants fell off?"

Kim was mortified. "HOW do YOU know that?"

Jen tried to hold herself together. "You said that when I took you two out to eat in Bay City."

"I did?"

Jen nodded. "I guess you and Ron were more focused on remembering good old memories."

It was noticeable that Yori was moving her head in all directions and making strange movements with her mouth, as if trying to appear that she wasn't listening. Whether because this was too much information or too funny at Kim's expense couldn't be determined. As strong as Kim was, Yori had no idea she had so many embarrassing moments in her life, not as much as Ron but much more humiliating.

Unfortunately for Kim, Jen remembered other details that Kim had no idea of sharing with her, and the girl in the blue decided to spill it out for fun and laughter. After all, it did take Kim's mind off of her earlier actions. Moments like when Kim had her underwear on backwards and didn't realize it until she was fighting with a biker gang, and when it was all over she had a wedgie that had Ron laughing for two days straight. Eating Bueno Nacho, in the shower, playing games, and even in his sleep. It took a while for it to come to an end, until he asked Kim why he was laughing in the first place. Two days of endless laughter ensued yet again.

Then there was one time Ron got Kim an extremely late April Fools gift in the form of a white shirt. Ordinary shirt? Hardly. In the daytime it looked normal, but at night it would reveal a hidden glow-in-the-dark message of Ron's choosing. The message? Kim's phone number. The timing couldn't be worse. At the time, they were fighting a group of the Ice Shadows called the Young Devils, its members between sixteen to eighteen, and a lot of them got a crush on the girl who gave them a good beating and put them in jail. Poor Kim had to disconnect her phone for a week after that fight, even from Ron. He clearly didn't anticipate that to happen from a group of villain-wannabes. It was just something to embarrass Kim, and they were at a point in the relationship where her embarrassment would be humorous.

There was also one time back in the day before Kim and Ron hit it off, when she and Shego had tried on a new popular shampoo, but the results were terrible, and they had to engage in combat… with their hair tangled together. Unfortunately for both Ron and Drakken, they had to wait until the two were able to get one's hair out of the other, and the second both Kim and Shego went in for a kick, it got tangled all over again.

Jen refused to skip any story that came to mind, like the one when Kim and Ron decided to go on a date in the middle of a fight with some giant destructo-bot shaped like a car. After all, this group of the Ice Shadows were more concerned about "tricking out their car" than destroying their enemies. Some of them were serious and deadly, but most of them lacked the brains to be a real threat.

Kim couldn't believe it. Had she said _all that_ while they were eating? She tried to hide herself, the tip of her nose being just above the water level. Frustrated bubbling was coming from her mouth. Moments like these she wanted to go underwater and stay there.

Yori tried so hard not to laugh, making the most bizarre faces trying to hold it in. She thought Ron's humor was something, but this was just golden.

Ron on the other hand wasn't paying attention. It was hauntingly mesmerizing to be in the same hot tub as your girlfriend in a green two piece, an old Japanese ninja girl crush in a red two piece, and a weird blonde vigilante in a blue two piece. He was still surprised at the sight before him.

He had seen Kim in a swimsuit a few times, but mostly as kids. The first time he saw her in the two-piece she was wearing now, they had been dating for a little less than a month. Ron hadn't even seen Kim in a swimsuit since they were six. It was when she thought about getting a part-time job as a bodyguard at the pool, but she felt like swimming first. The second she came out wearing her two piece, Ron almost fainted and fell into the water. Unfortunately for Kim, the Kimmunicator went off before she could even grab an application. Some guys gave her 'the look' but she was completely oblivious when it came to Ron.

Rufus on the other hand was taking pictures. He sure didn't want Ron to forget this moment when he got home, and he was probably going to torture him about the experience until old age.


	13. 12: Apparatus

**Chapter 12: Apparatus**

_Again, warn me if I get past the rating here. Thanks!_

_Also, if you didn't know already, the errors in the previous chapter were fixed. Thanks for the heads up to JPMod on that. Also, thanks to Zaratan for the advice on Yori's leg. Read away! _

_

* * *

_

"_So where are you now?"_

"Inside the machine. They don't realize it, but they're approaching toward our location. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to shoot them down so close to the site."

"_I'll keep that in mind next time. So you can confirm that 'the Fafnir' works?"_

"Affirmative. It recently surpassed all of its military testing. The armor is almost impenetrable, the weapons are fully loaded, and it's now fully functional - Just as he said."

"_It still astonishes me that we're working with him."_

"Still, I'm not sure I trust him."

"_When this is all over, I'll be on the best receiving end of the bargain. How is everything else?"_

"The warhead is still protected. The only way they'll reach it is if they destroy the weapon and myself. The jamming amplifier on it is still working at full capacity. So far our own signal hasn't been affected, just the outgoing frequencies of their communication devices."

"_Very good. How are the others doing?"_

"Hard to say."

"_I see. Well, keep me informed if anything happens."_

"Right."

V scratched her head when she put the small device away. "That's not normal… That's the first time I ever lied to him…"

Then she stared at the objects in front of her. Two control sticks and a holographic display with two words blinking.

AWAITING COMMAND

She would have to wait longer.

* * *

Back inside the cave, Kim and Ron were taking a nap, Yori was sparring with a sharp rock that was a bit taller than she was, striking it with her good leg. She used the sword she brought with her as her support, as it still needed time to heal since it had been dislocated for nearly a day. Jen was taking pictures all over the cave, finding something new with each step. The spring was still hot, but everyone started feeling weird with all the heat after about fifteen minutes, and it was extremely cold the second they all stepped out, much worse than getting out of the shower. Imagine going straight from seventy degrees to minus-twenty! Fortunately, Rufus was the only one who didn't go inside the pool, so everyone had him drag their clothes near the pool, as well as aspirins in case their muscles went to shock because of the sudden temperature change, but that was well over an hour ago. 

Yori couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. She had finally made her first kill, but didn't have the same reaction that Kim did.

"Hey, you okay?"

Yori turned around to find Jen behind her.

"Oh, Ferno-san. My leg seems to be doing much better, thank you."

"Not what I was referring to. I meant up here and here." Jen was pointing to her head and her chest, referring to her heart obviously.

"Oh, that. Well… I was just thinking about earlier. Oh, that's right, you were with Possible-san." Yori sounded depressed in her tone.

"Wanna talk about it, ninja girl?"

Yori continued to kick the rock in front of her, using a lot of motions Jen had never seen before, striking the rock in several places with one kick.

"It's… just that I made my first kill out there. I have been warned all my life that it may happen someday, but I do not feel too surprised, and that is what concerns me."

Jen sat on a nearby rock to observe Yori's moves. "Aren't ninjas supposed to be trained to take out their enemies swiftly, regardless of the method?"

Yori shook her head. "That's what some people are led to believe. Most people who wish to learn the martial arts seek out not only the physical skills but the mental and spiritual skills as well. Most practitioners of martial arts have peaceful minds. They learn to achieve an inner peace with themselves and then learn to appreciate the many things what life has to offer. It is not because of the moves or action movies, with the exception of entertainers, but they too usually have an inner peace in themselves and the world. But with the art of the ninja, there are practically no teachers who share the same peace, honor and wisdom as those who live by the art."

"I see, like the Shaolin Monks. They are not only skilled, but they also extremely peaceful. More of their training goes towards the mind and soul, and that's how they're able to develop several individual styles."

"That's accurate, and most people believe those are the only kinds of teachers that exist. However, there are also those who have bitterness and hatred in their soul, and those are _usually_ the ones who teach the ninja arts, to be invisible killers. Sensei was different. First he teaches us to train our minds. Many students fail in that stage, and those who succeed can only then learn the true ninja arts. You see, most ninjas do not know peace and honor, and that is why most are known as mercenaries or hired assassins."

"So that's why you're the only ninja girl I know who acts on honor."

"I have Sensei's teachings to thank for that. Unfortunately, many graduates still succumb to the older ways and lose themselves, being possessed by the inner demons they were taught to diminish."

"And I'm guessing he taught you it was not honorable to kill."

"No. I am not one to make excuses, but I only did it because Stoppable-san's life was in danger and I was in no position to help him. If my leg was not injured, it would have been my honor to aid him in combat. It was not an act of selfishness, but it was not of honor either."

Jen disagreed. "In a way, it is, if you choose to sacrifice such an important part of your teachings to save one's life. For some people, me admittedly, it's only about duty."

By this time, the rock was pretty beaten, and Yori then did a series of swift kicks with her one good leg. They were so quick that her leg was almost rendered invisible. She then finished, completely turning around to Jen.

The rock behind her shattered like broken glass.

Yori's expression didn't change. "That is what Sensei also told me, to act on instinct only in a desperate situation. But the fact that I took two people's lives, I do not feel extremely concerned. That's what's bothering me, but they were like the ninjas Sensei used to tell me about. They didn't have honor or glory. They only craved the thought of taking someone's life…"

Jen got up from her position. "Look, everyone reacts differently based on the situation. The concept of death scares everyone. But let me ask you… did you enjoy it?"

"Absolutely not."

Jen quickly wrapped an arm around Yori in a friendly way. "Well, there you go then. Now when you do start to get a thrill out of it, _then_ you have something to worry about. At least, that's what one of my comrade-turned-enemy-but-still-friends Violet Fox told me."

Yori sighed. "Perhaps you are right. Thank you."

"You know, you're not alone in all of this. Kim actually had her first kill out there as well, but it was an accident."

Yori took a step back. "Really? Possible-san?"

"The girl we fought was trying to snap my neck and choke me, and Kim did a palm smash on her neck to knock her off, but I suppose she underestimated her own power."

"And how did she feel about it?"

"Almost had a panic attack. I had to remind her that Elurt's hands are trained to kill, despite their age. The girl looked almost eight, but the profiles indicate the youngest one is thirteen. Then again, none of those are confirmed. But do me a favor and don't tell Ron, okay? Right now I'm doing anything I can to get her mind off it, and who knows how he'll react if he finds out."

"I understand. Speaking of whom, do you think he is going to be okay?"

Both girls looked at Ron, who was sleeping on a rock near Kim. He had a few bandages on his cheek and neck, but both were astonished as to how quickly he was healing.

"I injected him with an anti-freezing peptide to prevent hypothermia a while ago, just in case the cold gets to his injuries. I had to do the same with Kim earlier because she cut herself on the plane, and her clothes and helmet didn't protect the gash on her head. As long as he doesn't do anything sudden for a while, I think he'll be fine."

"What do you think about us? Do you think we will all survive?"

Jen almost laughed. "I'm pretty sure. I bet this is nothing to those two. I feel great actually, but why are you so worried?"

"A hunch, I suppose."

"That can't be good."

"It's… probably nothing." Yori tried to assure her, tensely.

Jen didn't respond to this, seeing that Yori was trying to hide something. Instead, she walked back toward her bag and pulled out four rations.

"I figure we should eat before heading back out there."

Yori weakly nodded.

* * *

It was about an hour later when Kim and Ron woke up, finding Yori asleep with a bit of a bloated stomach. They also found Jen staring at the glowing areas of the cave. 

"How are you two feeling?" Jen didn't even have to look back to see that they were awake.

Kim yawned. "Feeling much better."

Ron moved his head to pop his neck. "Muy bueno." He was so calm, as if his earlier injuries didn't happen.

The couple stretched as they got up, moving in the same directions at the same time, almost like a mirror effect, but when they were done, they noticed a ration pack next to them.

"You two should eat before we start to pack things up," Jen told them.

Ron whined. "Aw, but it's so nice and cozy here."

Kim narrowed her eyes. "And dark and cold, too, Ron. Besides, we still have to stop the last Hand and prevent that nuke from going off."

"Right, right, so we can get back to Bay City, take down that assassin and go home! Is it okay to feel homesick, KP?"

Kim giggled. "I suppose so. How are your injuries?"

Ron tried to get a better view of his bandages, but wearing his survival gear he couldn't see most of them. "Itchy, but I think I'll survive."

Jen giggled to herself. _'Like someone dies of itchiness.'_

After that, Ron decided to make a fire and heat up the rations. Both he and Kim exchanged muffled laughter when they saw how each other ate it, which was obviously different than how they consumed everything else for some strange reason. Once that was over, they went to see what Jen was looking at. From this view, the whole area was glowing. The hot spring, the walls, the small waterfalls, the diamond-like rocks on the ceiling, and a few statues far in the back. It was like a fantasy painting.

Kim giggled. "You know, this reminds me of when Ron and I were kids and looked up at the stars at night. When it wasn't cloudy, the stars would really shine. Remember that, Ron?"

"Sure do, KP," he sighed, "too bad we couldn't stay here and watch it."

All three of them could hear a bit of noise from behind them. Yori had woken up and was already packing her equipment. Because it wasn't much, she didn't take long.

"Shall we go now?" she asked with a warm smile.

Everyone nodded, but Jen took about five more pictures of the sight. Everything was packed, and now the team was ready to go.

* * *

They didn't even walk that long before something went off in Kim's pocket. Unfortunately, it wasn't the Kimmunicator again, but rather Kim's radar. Everyone leaned their heads in to see what was going on, barely giving the former cheerleader any room to breathe. Oddly enough, the reception on it was much clearer than before, and had a red dot that was beeping. Kim pressed a button to zoom in, and it appeared to be some kind of military storage facility built in the mountain. 

"A military storage facility? What's it doing out here in the middle of nowhere? Hmm… That's not too far from here…" she came to realize.

Jen squeezed her head in more to take a better look. "I'm going to go on a limb here and say that's where our nuke is. Hey, maybe getting shot down a few miles away from our hotel wasn't so bad, if not for the battles and suffering part."

Kim put the device away and slightly shoved everyone out of the way. "I'm also going to go on a limb and say it's a trap. The warhead might be there, but they aren't going to just leave it there unprotected."

"Good point," Jen agreed. "If I were to steal a nuke and leave three colleagues to protect it, I'd probably have some kind of other backup in case they were taken out."

Everyone gave her a strange glare; Ron confused, Yori baffled, and Kim with her usual skepticism.

Jen didn't get what the big deal was. "Hey, gotta think like a baddie if you want to understand them. Well, I do anyway."

Kim sighed. "Regardless, we all got to be careful. Since we're some big team…" She took a moment to think out loud. "Okay… we'll need a distraction… backup… offense…"

Yori was the first to volunteer. "I can infiltrate the facility and see if there is any suspicious activity going on, and I assure you I won't be seen."

Ron volunteered himself. "I'll go in and assist Yori. If it's anything big, I'll come out to warn you guys."

Kim shrugged. "Works for me, but don't try to be a hero if it's some huge destructo-bot."

Ron smiled. "I remember what happened the last time, KP, so no worries there. I'm not getting my pants fall because of some laser gun."

Yori rolled her eyes, knowing Ron wouldn't back off any real threat, much like earlier.

Jen pulled out a machine gun from her bag. "If push comes to shove, I've got an entire weapons arsenal in my bag. Guns, grenades, body armor and the like."

Kim smiled. "Spankin. Well, everyone ready?"

Everyone nodded.

"Well, this is what we came here for."

The four continued to walk north as the radar had indicated. The clouds were starting to grow darker, probably being sunset, and the winds weren't calm but far from strong. It took them a half hour before they got a visual. Sure enough, there was some kind of weapons hangar built in the mountain, but the front door was wide open.

"Ugh," Kim groaned, "Open doors are an obvious sign of a trap. If they wanted to fool me they'd have the door closed."

"And you know someone's in there if the lights are on," Ron followed.

"I'm guessing the bad guys never learn, huh?" Jen asked with a sly curve on her lips.

"Nope," Jen, Kim and Ron said simultaneously, but Jen was the one to immediately follow with, "Jinx! You two owe me a soda!"

Both Kim and Ron pouted.

Jen tried to hold in her laughter. "Anyway, I guess you two have learned that on your endless missions, right?"

"Yep," all three answered, but this time Ron was the one who followed with, "Jinx, you both owe me a soda!"

Kim groaned. "I guess I'm paying, huh?"

"Oh yeah," they all answered, but Kim won the battle with another "Jinx, you both owe me a soda, and now we're even… with nothing." She pretty much cancelled out the deal.

Yori was confused out of her mind. She wasn't familiar with the whole jinx game. But she didn't take time to think on it, putting on a mask to hide her face.

"Come on, Stoppable-san. It's time."

"Right behind ya, Yori."

* * *

The storage facility was huge, appearing to be no more than some kind of tank or plane hangar. It was obviously some secret military site, but it was empty; abandoned with no guards. There was also no sign of an attack, except when they looked for any cameras. 

Both of them found a camera staring right at them, and they had guns mounted.

Fortunately, every gun camera in the facility was broken.

Yori was inspecting the high areas, only using three of her four limbs, and left Ron to inspect the main floor. The discovery of the cameras was an eerie one. They weren't placed to observe the actions of the main hangar, but rather, they were placed to seek out intruders like Ron and Yori. What scared both of them was that when they looked back to retrace their steps, they had already walked past twenty cleverly-placed cameras, as if the person who placed them there knew exactly how they were going to come in. Yori was more surprised than Ron, being an expert in stealth and infiltration. Because they were destroyed and broken, it was the only thing giving them the upper hand. Otherwise they would've been at the gates of eternity.

"Stoppable-san? Do you think they were expecting us?"

Ron was on the other side, but didn't need to yell. "No, I'm guessing someone was here before we were and took out these cameras."

"Does it not disturb you that these were carefully placed in specific positions, as if they knew we were going to enter the way we did?"

"A bit, but at least they're destroyed," he replied calmly.

Typical Ron-san. If he's not scared and afraid, he's fearless and confident. He was never in the middle these days.

Suddenly, the whole place began to violently shake, as if an earthquake was happening. It was more than enough to knock Yori off from the ceiling, but Ron managed to catch her.

Yori would've used her chains to break the fall, but she knew Ron was going to catch her, and the thought of him carrying her was a pleasant one. Yori, Yori, Yori… it's becoming more hard to accept the truth and fight the fantasy…

Before she could thank him, he ran out of there as fast as he could, yelling, meeting Kim and Jen at the entrance.

Instead of the place falling apart, the entire floor opened up, and some kind of giant mechanism rose from underground. Kim had her share of seeing giant robots, but it had been a long time since she saw one that took up the entire hangar. This was Jen's first time, and Yori had not seen anything like it.

Ron on the other hand, "That would be so cool if that thing wasn't going to kill us."

This wasn't just a robot, however. It was some kind of giant military vehicle, armed with two tank guns on each side, the cockpit, machine guns in-between, and fully-functional legs. It was painted a dark grey color and animated like a stop-motion puppet from hell. The towering demon must've been seventy feet tall, probably twice as wide.

"Ooookay," Kim nervously chuckled, "So not the kind of trap I was expecting."

All four took the moment to take several steps back, as the machine took up every bit of their vision range. Ron also put Yori down on her feet, and she slowly took off her mask. She hadn't seen anything like this in her entire life. To everyone's surprise, instead of the demon weapon opening fire on them, the cockpit opened, revealing V inside. She quickly moved out of the control center and moved to its side, standing up and pointing at the team, but staring at one member in particular.

"Kim Possible! How dare you kill my comrades!"

"What?" Ron had no idea what V was talking about.

"Don't try to play stupid with me!" the crimson-eyed woman fumed. "I saw your girlfriend kill my sister and I saw the ninja kill my brothers with my very own eyes!"

Both Kim and Yori were silent. They were related?

"KP, what's she talking about?"

Kim decided to give Ron the answer, but not in the way he anticipated. Instead, her attention was toward the woman on the machine.

"It was an accident!" she cried. "I only tried to knock her out by hitting a pressure point on her neck! I'm not the kind of person that kills their enemy!"

Yori followed. "I only did what I needed to do to save Stoppable-san! It is also not in my nature to kill my enemies!"

V only let out a malicious laugh. "Bullshit! You make it sound like _we're_ the enemy!"

Everyone froze at those words. What on earth was she talking about?

V continued. "You're in the middle of a battlefield and you expect me to believe you killed my own flesh and blood for the sole purpose of saving others? That's hardly an excuse for you, the real enemy in all of this! At least my brothers and sisters fought for a stronger purpose, for a future! It would be because of us that the world would be led in a new world order, one in which warriors such as you and I would be needed to protect the innocent, to ensure that the strong are in battle and those not qualified for battle are at home having a bunch of friends over enjoying Dave Chappelle and Carlos Mencia, playing Super Mario, or having a romantic dinner with their fiancée! But no, everyone's trying to play the hero thanks to your influence, and it's no surprise that because of someone like you, Kim Possible, those of the new generation are growing up thinking they can do what you do or fight you. Thanks to you, many teenagers have killed themselves attempting to do what you do, and more have been placed in jail because they thought it would be cool to play the villain!"

Kim hollered. "You're referring to the Ice Shadows, aren't you?"

"You really don't know everything that's going on around you, do you, little girl? You think you're helping people, but you're barely a positive role model! You think you're telling people that because you're doing your part, people should also do their part to help others! Let me ask you, do you live your life in some kind of delusion? In fact, what you're really doing is telling others to risk their lives so they can get attention and be on television!"

"No!" Kim cried, "Being on TV and getting attention has nothing to do with it! In fact, I _tell_ people _not_ to do what I do! I do it so others won't have to!"

"Hah!" V scoffed, "I refuse to accept that! Why else would someone who saves the world reveal their name to the public? Real heroes are never known in their time. They are mysterious legends, those who kept their lives secret so that they could protect others! You are no hero, Kim Possible! You never were, never have been, and never will be!"

V was either completely confused or a complete lunatic. Fortunately for Kim, the pig-tailed Hand wasn't able to play her like Bonnie and Drakken had before her, but one thing didn't make sense.

"If I'm the real enemy, why are _you_ guarding a nuke?"

V was quick to catch onto what Kim was attempting to do, but instead of answering, she hopped back into the cockpit, locked herself in, and once again animated the giant walking tank.

"_You are so naïve, Kim!"_ V yelled on a loudspeaker, _"People like you are the reason rebellious teenagers are out there trying to exercise power they don't even have, abusing their free speech to express ignorant beliefs, trying to become political about issues they have no idea about, and trying to influence others for their own selfish desires! Some of these people shouldn't even _have_ the _right_ to exercise free speech if it is used in such a manner! Some of these people don't even deserve their rights at all! Such things were created for the sole purpose of allowing constructive ideas to be set in stone! It wasn't made so you could whine and bitch about things you don't understand! These are the people who will destroy our country, not politicians, not communist nations, not terrorists, not even those losers who plan to conquer the world! It will be the new generation of teenagers who will grow up to be the real villains of our time, and that includes all of you! Even you suffer from the ignorance as your peers! You honestly believe you're saving the world, but in fact you're playing a role in destroying it! For this, we, the future leaders of this inevitable war of ideas, we will need something to control those who wish to oppose us and destroy the life cycle further! We need weapons, we need power, we need control, we need technology! This is what we need to create a balance!"_

Ron was confused out of his mind. "Pardon my language, but what the _hell_ are you talking about?"

"_Silence! I will prevent the apocalyptic future you will all be responsible for! I will also avenge my brothers and sister! Prepare to feel the wrath of the prototype weapon, Fafnir! Die!"_

With that said, the giant machine started moving out toward them.

"Note to self," Ron thought out loud, "Keep your mouth shut and the enemy won't attack."

"Well," Kim sighed, "Now we've done it, she's pissed. Time to take down another doomsday machine."

With each step forward of the giant weapon, it sent debris everywhere, but everyone was far away outside, so nothing was sent near them. But when the Fafnir was making its way outside, it didn't fit through the doorway, destroying the front part of the hangar. Now that it was walking on snow, each step sent a ton of snow flying into the air and shook the ground completely. Everyone was prepared for the last move, jumping in the air with each step of the weapon to avoid being knocked down.

"_May the Gods protect you!"_ V yelled as she aimed her guns toward the team.

With that, she quickly opened fire, but Kim managed to leap out of the way while the others evaded to the sides.

The sound of the guns almost deafened Kim. They weren't the usual laser guns.

"Geez! They aren't using lasers this time, they're using real bullets!"

"_This isn't some fantasy duel, Kim!"_ V taunted. _"This weapon is designed to destroy, and not by petty harmless weapons!"_

V continued to open fire on Kim, focused entirely on the redhead. She wasn't even concerned with the others.

While Kim was evading the bullets, which weren't as fast as V had hoped, Jen was planting a few C2 remote-controlled bombs to go off near the feet. Yori tried to scale the machine from behind, Ron tried to think of what to do… support?

"Nice distraction, KP!" he hollered.

Kim dived into the snow and landed behind a huge rock, which soon became surrounded by sparks and empty bullet shells. "Distraction… right…"

"Fire in the hole!" Jen yelled.

With a press of a button, several bombs went off around the feet of the machine, but when the smoke cleared, it didn't appear to be any different than before.

"_Oh, that's right…"_ V taunted. _"I forgot to mention that this prototype weapon has some of the strongest armor ever created! Not even non-nuclear surface-piercing missiles can do any harm! I'd like to see you try to destroy this weapon that will lead the world into a new generation!"_

Inside the cockpit, V adjusted the big cannons on the machine, aiming at the rock where Kim was hiding.

"Kim! Get the hell out of there, now!" Jen warned as she noticed the cannons on the walking tank were moving.

"_Get a load of this!"_

V abruptly lowered the cannons and quickly fired. A huge explosion rocked the entire area, a few feet ahead of the rock Kim was hiding behind. The rock was completely destroyed, sending Kim and several rocks of debris flying back a few yards. The snow in the area softened the blow, and she didn't appear harmed.

"_What's the matter, Kim? Afraid of a little warning shot? How about we get serious?"_

Kim growled as she got up, pulling out some kind of bladed weapon and hurled it straight at the machine. She began to dart off towards another direction, and fortunately for her, V couldn't keep the cannons on her as easily as the machine guns. Not that it mattered, as V soon found a weapon shaped like a buzzsaw inches away from her nose. The glass of the cockpit was less impenetrable as the rest of the vehicle, but this weapon managed to get through it. The crack was probably half a millimeter wide. Because it blocked her vision, V kicked it as hard as she could with her boots, and while the broken glass gave her less of a clear view, as it was distorted, she could still see the blood vessels of Kim's eyes.

"_Hah! It's about time you got motivated!"_

Kim didn't know why V was so focused on her alone, not that she wanted to drag Yori into this for killing V's brothers. Besides, if she was the distraction, this would allow Ron, Jen and Yori to figure something out. But she wasn't the only one with this train of thought. The pilot of the Fafnir also came to realize this, moving outside further and firing the machine gun in various directions in an attempt to scare off anyone nearby, but she couldn't see them.

On the back of the machine, Yori was trying to cut into some kind of control terminal so she could slice the wires, but she couldn't even see the scratches from her sword. It got to the point where V could hear her, slamming the side of the machine into what was left of the hangar doors, knocking Yori off. She was quick to position herself so that she could land on the hangar door wreckage safely, and then leapt off it before V could slam into it some more. Her bad leg didn't seem to slow her down at all.

Jen refused to give up on firing and throwing any weapons she had on her. Surely this machine had to have some kind of weakness for this exact situation. If some big-name designer created a massive robot of destruction, surely he would have created a secret weak point in case it was in the wrong hands. Grenades of all kinds didn't work, chaff did nothing, and guns were completely useless. She needed something else, something stronger.

Ron on the other hand was running around and looking for any kind of weakness. If he could even find a ventilation vent, he could send Rufus in there to dismantle the behemoth from inside. But so far he couldn't find anything, not even on something this huge. Maybe even the designer of this giant knew of The Rufus Factor.

Kim realized what the others were doing, but it wouldn't be long before V realized it and fired at them. She was currently the distraction, and she needed a new one. She had been running away from the machine guns the whole time, and if she took a moment to relax, even in a safe position, V would fire the cannons at her again. A lot of Kim's weapons were designed for fighting people, and the only weapon that would assist her in a giant walking tank like this would be the Kimmunicator or an electromagnetic scrambler, but the Kimmunicator wasn't working properly due to the jamming signal, and she was out of scramblers. Then she found something in her utility belt; a smoke bomb. This time, she hurled it straight at the cockpit seconds before being fired upon again.

V realized what the weapon was as it came her way, but she didn't react properly and fired at it, detonating the device front of her. This completely blocked her vision, covering the entire window of the cockpit.

'_Perfect,_' Kim thought. Now she should have the advantage.

Instead, V continued to fire at Kim with accuracy, but all of the bullets were still landing long behind her.

"_I don't think so, Kimmie! Like my brothers and sisters, I've also had adjustments made! I can see you perfectly through this smoke, and your little friends, too!"_

The cannons started to animate, but instead of focusing on one target, each one moved into its own direction, and V pulled the trigger. One cannon fired where Jen was and one where Ron was. Because they were on the sides and out of visible range, neither explosion struck their intended target. However, the impact was strong enough to send both flying a few feet away.

* * *

Oddly enough, Ron was tossed back inside the hangar, but he remembered something. V was guarding a nuke. _That's_ what he should be doing, trying to disarm the nuke while V was distracted by Kim! So he ran to the very back of the hangar as fast as he could and started looking. Jen noticed this as she got up, and decided to follow him. Every step of the Fafnir shook the entire area, but most of the damage was already done, so no more steel supports or equipment would fall on them. At the end of the hangar was a large steel door. Ron tried to put his fingers in-between and force it open, but with no luck. 

Jen wasn't too far away from him, but knew how to open it.

"You've got to use the good stuff for that, Ron."

He moved out of her way, allowing her to place more C4 remote-controlled bombs on the center crack. She tried to put some as high as she could and a couple on the floor, but she didn't want V to hear the bombs go off. They were remote-controlled, but Jen had to time it when V did something loud.

Ron looked as Kim appeared to have stopped, panting for air. There was something peculiar about her, though. Her skin complexion was much darker, as with her hair. Something told him not to be afraid. Although he didn't realize it, Jen and Yori, wherever she was, had the same odd feeling.

* * *

V on the other hand had Kim right where she wanted her. In front, standing still, with both cannons locked onto her and ready to fire. 

"_What's wrong, Kim? Exhausted? Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to rest… in peace! Die!"_

The second V fired both cannons at Kim, Jen pushed the detonator, blowing the steel door open.

When the smoke cleared outside, V was surprised to see no blood, but pieces of some kind of projector instead.

"_What the hell?"_

Suddenly, she found Kim in front of her, on the cockpit window.

"Hi!" the auburn girl waved, before placing some kind of bomb on the window. She was quick to somersault off of it before it exploded, but again, no damage was done to the glass. Either it was too strong, or the bomb was too weak. Both Kim and V leaned on the latter.

Yori was shaken on top, but had no luck finding any kind of port that could reveal a weakness to the walking death mobile.

* * *

"What was that about?" Jen asked as she covered her eyes from the smoke. 

"Heh," Ron chuckled, "That was the Holo-Kim."

"Hologram, huh? Ever go on a couple of dates with that one?"

Ron sighed. "Unfortunately, yes, but that's when her parents made her fill out some college applications because we were more focused on going out every day of the week, and I kinda had that procrastinating effect on her. She used some kind of mind-relay control thingamabob to control it with her real thoughts, but it's kinda hard to hold your GF when she's, you know, not there."

"Weak."

"I know."

Finally, the smoke had completely cleared, but the doors were still in the way. Fortunately, they were weak enough for both Ron and Jen to pull them off. In the small room, two items sat there: A stinger missile launcher and the nuke, covered with wires.

Ron didn't recognize it. "Okay, the missile launcher I see, but what's this supposed to be, a snow-cone maker?"

Jen shook her head. "It's the nuke, Ron. So they really did manage to steal it. Try to disarm it while I help Kim!"

Ron got on his knees. "Rufus, go time!"

Rufus hopped out of Ron's pocket and did a small salute. "You got it!"

Jen didn't hesitate to take the missile launcher, but she stopped when she realized something was wrong:

The damn thing was empty, and there was no ammo in the hangar.

* * *

Yori had seen everything that happened, and realized she needed to be a distraction while Ron and Rufus tried to disarm the weapon. 

Kim had been pretty exhausted, running the entire time, it had been clear for a while that this thing couldn't be destroyed from the outside. It somehow had to be destroyed from the inside, but there were no ports or panels to break through. She took a moment to observe and analyze the explosive cannons on the sides of the machine. The barrel of the cannon gun was the only way in, meaning…

_THAT_ was the weak point. It was the only opening, but she needed something that would cause irreparable damage to it, and she needed something that could go to the very end of it.

"Jen! Frag grenade, now!"

Jen was still far away from the back of the tank, but heard the message. She quickly pulled out a grenade and tossed it to Kim.

"Here! Catch!"

Kim knew exactly what to do. If she could pull the pin and toss the grenade into the very end of the cannon barrel, at the same time that V fires, it could completely destroy it… but could the grenade _fit?_

_

* * *

_

Inside, Ron and Rufus tried to disarm the bomb, but they only made things worse. First, Rufus managed to activate the controls, which were similar to those on the jet. It was a HDCS (Holographic Display Control System), but with the touch of a button, Ron accidentally started the detonation sequence for twenty minutes. Rufus tried to snap some wires inside, only lowering the timer to ten minutes. He also checked the primary wires, which in the movies would be red, green or blue. This time, they were all painted blue. Rufus cut one, and it lowered them to five minutes.

"Oh!" Ron groaned. "Rufus, we've never had to dismantle a bomb like this! And this is a freaking nuke!"

* * *

Kim chanced it, pulling the pin of the grenade and hurled it straight into the cannon barrel. It was a precise aim; if Kim was off by one degree, it would have bounced off, but it flew right in. Just as she predicted, V foolishly fired the cannons, both. Kim forgot about the other one, but she soon came to realize nothing happened, as she was unharmed. Whatever shell was fired out of the other cannon was sliced in half by Yori, who was standing next to her with her sword in hand. The remains of what appeared to be some kind of explosive shell were nearby. 

"Spankin' save, Yori."

Yori just smiled, keep firm in her stance. "You are welcome."

A huge explosion had already rocked the left cannon, which actually triggered a chain reaction of explosions inside the behemoth. Loud screams from the cockpit could also be heard.

"_Damn you to hell, Possible! Gyaaahh!"_

The machine staggered, but just when it looked like it was done, it rose up again, but the left side of it was limping and smoking.

"_No! I won't let you walk out of here alive! Not you, not any of you!"_

The machine guns went off again, forcing Kim and Yori to evade. To Kim's surprise, Yori swung the blade around in almost inhuman motions, actually blocking several of the bullets and slicing a few in half. Unfortunately, the machine guns themselves were mounted inside, or else Yori would have sliced them off, but the ninja girl actually got a different idea. Because the behemoth was leaning backward, she could stand on the front of the machine and probably still do damage. So she leapt onto the machine, ran to what was now the top of it, and located the machine guns. Much to V's misfortune, she couldn't see her because of the now-shattered cockpit window, and the impact of the explosions rocked her head all over the place, almost knocking her unconscious.

Yori had to chance it. She quickly pulled out her sword, pointed it toward the machine, and thrusted her sword into the machine guns themselves. There was a total of sixteen of them, which should have been more than enough to kill a target, but V didn't realize they were designed to be powerful, not fast. Had she actually struck Kim with just one bullet, it probably would have torn a limb off, if not destroy it completely. Yori was working quickly, thrusting her sword in, twisting it, pulling it out, and repeating it again. In two minutes she had completely destroyed the machine guns. The only weapons that V could use were the last cannon, or if anyone was dumb enough to get under one of the feet of the giant, that.

Jen finally reached Kim, who was hiding on the machine's side, holding a grenade with a pin still in it.

"This is my last one. You know what to do." Jen followed with a wink.

Kim grabbed it and darted off toward the second and last cannon, but V had fired it as Kim was getting closer. The explosion's impact sent Kim flying away from the battlefield, and worse of all, the grenade went into the snow. To make matters worse, it was getting windy again, and that would mean the snow would eventually bury the grenade forever.

"Shoot…"

* * *

"Woohoo!" Rufus cried. 

"Okay, now we bumped it to eight minutes. Not a lot, but that'll give us some time." Ron groaned again, "Why couldn't they teach us how to disarm nukes in school?"

* * *

Now that the winds were picking up and it was starting to snow, Yori had a hard time seeing, but tried to keep V distracted while Kim went to look for the grenade. Jen was going in to follow her, but where the remaining cannon was at, she would've been knocked away if V fired it. Yori decided to play the distraction again, getting on top of the machine and trying to thrust her sword into the cockpit window. 

She succeeded for the most part, but with all the smoke inside, she couldn't tell where she struck. She also lost her footing, the sword being her only support. Out of nowhere, another bladed weapon came from inside, and the tip was coming toward her neck quickly. Acting in reflex, Yori let go of the sword and jumped off before a sharp knife came through, rolling on the snowy surface to ease her fall, but using her elbows to prevent any muscle tear in her leg. But the distraction worked. Yori turned to where the other girls were, and Jen was already helping Kim.

* * *

"Here!" 

Jen pulled some kind of device from her bag and hurled it to Kim.

"Jen, how's a golf club going to help me find the grenade?"

The blonde slapped her head. "Sorry!"

She then pulled out something with a similar appearance, but it had some kind of electronic display at the top of it.

Kim caught it single-handedly. "A metal detector! Now we're talking!"

It showed the grenade a few steps to Kim's side. She put her hand in the snow, felt it, and pulled it out. Both girls started freaking out when they noticed something was different.

The pin was missing.

In reflex, Kim tossed it without thinking, and it went toward the front of the Fafnir.

"Yori!" Kim cried out, "Incoming!"

Yori saw the black device coming in the air, and noticed V was aiming the cannon toward her. She got the right idea for finishing this fight. Just when the grenade came within reach, the cannon was a second or two away from firing.

Yori actually hit the grenade with the butt of her sword, ricocheting it straight into the end of the barrel. V didn't even see it. All she saw was Yori standing there, locked on and ready to fire.

"_You'll pay for killing my brethren, ninja! See you in hell!"_

Yori leapt away the instant V pulled the trigger, causing another massive explosion on the right side of the vehicle, followed by several more chain reactions, and now that the left side was destroyed, even more explosions went off from all over. Finally, it collapsed, even after V's efforts of trying to make it stand on its feet, which were interrupted by the explosions in the entire cockpit.

"_NO! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH-!"_

One more explosion silenced her, shattering the window of the cockpit. There was a long eerie silence as the three girls walked toward the front of the demon, but there was too much smoke coming from inside. They saw blood all over the shattered glass, too much for their tastes.

Kim sighed. "Sorry, V."

Yori bowed to the remains of the war machine. "It was not in our best interest to fight you to the death, but you would not have it any other way."

Jen on the other hand was looking past it. "Might want to see how Ron's doing with that nuke."

Kim almost fainted when she heard this. "Ron's trying to disarm a nuke? _The_ nuke? Are you kidding me? What is he thinking?"

Jen let out a sheepish grin. "Actually, I thought he could handle it with his pet. Oops?"

Kim groaned. "Damn right 'oops'! Come on, let's help him before he blows us all up." She quickly jumped on and over the remains of the Fafnir and darted off toward the end of the hangar.

As much as Kim loved Ron, she wouldn't ever trust him with a nuke if her life depended on it, and that was pretty accurate for the current situation.

Jen leaned toward Yori. "Yikes. Not confident with the BF on bomb control, huh?"

Yori shrugged. "I suppose not. Come on, let us see how he is doing."

The two girls did exactly as Kim did, jumping over the remains and ran toward the end of the hangar.

Just as they disappeared, a loud groan could be heard, and a bloody mangled body fell out from the smoky and destroyed cockpit.

And it was breathing.

* * *

Inside, Ron appeared to be freaking out, trying to look all over the device for any kind of secret switch. 

"Okay, we went back up to twenty and back down to four… there's got to be a way to get it back to zero…" Ron didn't even realize the three shadows lurking over him.

"Need some help there, Mr. Ronshine?"

Ron turned around. "Oh, hi KP, I-waaaaaaaaah!" His hair popped upward when he saw the girls.

The girls then came to realize they were a complete mess. Their hair was messed up, their clothes were torn and ripped, they had smoke all over their faces, as well as a few cuts.

Ron was quick to apologize, bowing down on his hands nervously. "Sorry, but I am so not used to that look. I've seen Kim with wrecked hair a few times, often with tree branches, but not with the battle damage and the smoky skin."

Kim smirked at the others, then rubbed all the smoke on her onto Ron's hair and his face.

"There, we're even."

Jen tapped Kim's shoulder. "Uh, Kim, hello? Bigger problem here."

All of them were quickly distracted by a loud scream coming from behind them, jumping out of the way before being struck with a sword. It was V, almost completely painted red and carrying the sword Yori carried.

"You…" she weakly growled.

Kim exchanged a look with Jen. "Nice eye."

Jen had a nervous smile. "Honestly, I had no idea she was behind us. I was talking about the nuke."

"Possible…" V weakly moaned, "You… won't… leave here… ever…"

Kim groaned. "Tell you what, let's deactivate that nuke and then we can fight, okay? Okay? Great."

V held the sword in a professional manner, leveling the sword with her eyes. "No… You will… die here… even if… I have to…"

Ron was between V and the nuke, grabbing Rufus, who whispered something into his ear.

"What?" Ron whispered. "The Holo-thingie went away but it said we have twenty seconds left? Oh crap…"

V heard Ron completely, letting out a weak smile, then was about to dart off toward Kim. Her hunt was interrupted when Ron grabbed her face and slammed it into the remains of the steel doors.

Kim was surprised. "Ron?"

He was serious all of a sudden, positioning himself between Kim and V. "You're not going to get near her until you get past me."

Kim turned red.

V got up weakly. "Stoppable… You're the one… the boss mentioned… the fool…"

But his seriousness would not last forever. "Okay, yeah, glad you know me, but I hope this blood doesn't stain my glove! It's kinda icky."

Kim covered her face.

"Idiot…" V hissed. "She'll be the end… of you… I'll finish you off… first."

With that, she let out a loud cry and ran at Ron with the sword, revealing another one hidden in her sleeve.

"DIE!"

Ron just stood there comfortably with little to no fear, then suddenly jumped in the air, spun in a 1080 spin before delivering a hard mid-air kick, more than strong enough to send V straight into the small room with the bomb in it. She appeared unconscious, but Ron quickly grabbed the steel doors to seal her in. All of the girls were surprised he was able to handle them so easily, seeing that they weighed so much. Mystical Monkey Power? Probably.

"And that, ladies, is where I say 'Booyah'." Ron took the moment to lean against the door with a smug expression.

Kim still had her face covered. "Uh, Ron… It's a nuke, meaning we're all going to die now."

Ron didn't appear worried. "See Kim, that's depressing. I'd rather die after a sweet victory than die in failure."

"Yeah, failure to dismantle a bomb."

Ron rubbed his head. "Oi. I give up."

Jen dropped to her knees. "Well, crap, this is it. If I'm going down, I'm going to leave a message!" She lifted her arms and her middle fingers. "Read'em and weep, boys!"

Yori just stood quietly, as if she were meditating. Unlike Jen, if she were to leave this world, she wanted to go peacefully.

Kim on the other hand just stood disappointed. Maybe Bonnie _was_ right when she said that Ron would somehow destroy the world… or was that Shego?

Then, a long beep could be heard.

00:00:00.00

**BOOM**

**

* * *

**

"_Ron? Ron! Can you hear me? Ron!"_

"_Un-freaking-believable."_

"_Is he…?"_

"_Ron… come on, show some kind of life…!"_

"_Kim, he's been… well, like that for fifteen minutes…"_

"_Dammit, Jen, he's not dead!"_

"_I didn't say he was, but give him some air after delivering CPR."_

"_I've got a pulse! But no breathing…"_

"_If I were you, Yori, I wouldn't watch."_

"_No, I need to see this."_

"_Here goes…!"_

Kim's lips…

Air…

"_Come on, dammit! Breathe!"_

More of it…

"_Ron! I know you can hear me, wake up!"_

I can't move… So much… pain…

"_Kim, being crushed between the wall and a door doesn't mean he's going to wake up just like that."_

"_Breathe, dammit!"_

A familiar taste again…

"_Ron! Please! I can't save the world without you!"_

"_Uh, Kim, he's breathing. Are you crying?"_

"_What does it look like?"_

"_Um, yes? Wow."_

"_Okay, his pulse is good and he's breathing… thank goodness. Yori, here, look for any kind of bandage, he's still bleeding…"_

"_Here's one."_

"_Thanks…"_

COUGH

"_I think he's coming to."_

Ron woke up, coughing. "KP? Yori? Jen? What's… ow, my head."

Kim had tears in her eyes, "Don't you ever try something like that again!" She tried to look angry, but it was an uncontrollable smile. She couldn't help but plant a hard one on his lips, even if it meant tasting the blood on them.

Jen whistled and Yori tapped her foot.

The world famous teen hero had a huge smile on her face when she finally pulled it from Ron's. "Just lay back and relax…"

"What happened…?" Ron asked weakly. His entire body was feeling miserable, almost as if all the bones in his body were broken.

Kim tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. "The bomb went off, and before we knew it, the explosion sent the doors flying into the walls, with you in front of one. We thought it crushed you completely… You were bleeding all over, you weren't breathing, and your pulse was low… It took fifteen minutes, but you're finally awake…"

Ron coughed out a bit of blood. "But… the nuke…"

Jen had her arms crossed and 'pissed off' written all over her face. "It was a damn fake, nothing more than a weak dummy warhead. The self-destruct mechanism in V was more powerful. It looks like we were tricked once again. Another diversion tactic, I'm sure."

"So wait, a bomb still went off, sending the door and me toward the wall, and I was pretty much turned into a sandwich. Shouldn't something like that had to kill me?"

"Yes…" Kim weakly answered, then sniffed. "I could've sworn I heard your whole skeleton get crushed just by the sound of the door hitting the wall, but… you're still alive… and not a single broken bone for some reason…"

Kim's radar also seemed to act like an X-Ray as she scanned Ron's body, and his skeleton looked almost perfect.

"And Rufus?"

Yori was petting Rufus in her hand. "Rufus-san is shaken, since he flew out of your pocket before impact, but he will be okay."

While Jen didn't show it, she was also extremely relieved to see that Ron was alive, since the blood on the wall was a clear indication he was crushed like a fly. She wasn't good in 'moopy' scenes like this, so she decided to see what was left of the fake nuke and, as much as she didn't want to see it, V. From where the others were at, it looked like someone had blown up a red paint bucket in the small area. But when she took a closer look at the remains of the corpse, she realized something.

"Guys, you might want to see this!"

Kim and Yori both picked up Ron, all heading toward the back room where the room was painted red.

Whatever was left of V wasn't pretty. Everyone expected to see blood and gore everywhere, and that's what they saw, including some details they never dared to imagine. Most of V's skin and features had been blown off, painting the walls with blood, tissue and a couple of organs. But something didn't look right about her skeletal features at all.

It was painted silver, as in silver _metal_.

Also, some of her organs also appeared… mechanical.

She was a machine fused with human body parts.

Kim immediately threw up.


	14. 13: Damnation

**Chapter 13: Damnation**

_Heavy So The Drama References, which include spoilers! Heck, you're probably reading this only if you've seen it. Also, I'm no scientist with the deep explanation, so I hope it makes sense! And this is by NO means political!  
_

_

* * *

_

"What on earth _is _she…?"

Kim had found a bathroom hidden inside the hangar, heavily vomiting. She obviously didn't have the stomach for something unexpected like this. It took her some time to finish, but she looked like hell, and Kim was still one to be a bit sensitive about her looks, even in the face of danger. She washed her face repeatedly, as well as her hair and various areas of her skin that was covered with smoke. She also tossed five breath mints into her mouth.

One second she felt like she was on a mission, and with that lifeless stare the corpse outside was giving her, she felt like nothing was real. It wasn't like her to lose a grip on reality, but this was the first time she saw anything so… vile. Even brain surgery at the hospital wasn't so… inhuman.

She stepped back outside where the others were waiting, unable to prevent herself from sharing eye contact with V's corpse. It was like the eye was still alive and staring at her no matter which direction she moved.

"Think you're finished?" Jen asked, who was sitting down on a metal crate, brushing all the smoke from her hair.

"I hope so…" Kim weakly answered. "I just haven't seen anything so wrongsick in my life."

Ron was laying down on the floor while Yori was applying a few herbs to his bandages.

He looked worse than Kim did before, but he was able to speak clearly now. "I'm surprised I wasn't the one who threw up first."

Kim still couldn't believe that Ron looked so relaxed. "That makes two of us… so… does anyone know what's going on? Now I'm confused. First we find out the nuke was a fake, and V's some kind of… terminator or something. Oh, if only..-"

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

Kim froze.

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

She quickly pulled out the Kimmunicator. "Wade?"

"_Long time no see, Kim. Sorry I haven't been able to get through, but something was jamming the signal, and I'm guessing you just destroyed it."_

"Wade, you have no idea how glad I am to see you!"

"_Miss me, huh?"_

"It's not fun being separated in the snow alone without any navigation, and then a bunch of things happen that don't make a lot of sense."

"_Such as?"_

"Okay, we took out all of Elurt's Hands, some kind of giant weapon, and the nuke was a fake. But about one of them… She's a… machine."

"_And?"_

"No Wade, she's like a machine with human body parts. Tissue, blood, organs, muscle, all except the skeleton and a few organs. The real deal."

"_You're sure…?"_ Wade asked skeptically.

"If you don't believe me I can show you."

Kim quickly walked towards V's corpse and pointed the Kimmunicator at it.

"_Oh, now that's just… gosh, what is that thing? I haven't seen anything like it before… Good thing I haven't eaten lunch yet… That's just sick."_

"That's what I thought. So what now?"

Wade took the moment to perform a full scan on the bloody remains.

"_Nev's been working on some kind of jet and he told me that he recently finished it. He might send it out there as a test run, now that we know where you're at. Are you in some kind of hangar?"_

"Yup."

"_How's everyone else?"_

"Yori, Jen and I are okay. Ron's been injured, but… something puzzles me."

"_What?"_

"You see, he sealed V inside a small room with the bomb in it, and both went off, sending the doors flying straight into the walls, and he was still in front of it. The door pretty much crushed him like a fly, and I didn't even see it happen until I heard it."

"_Something like that usually kills people…"_

"Exactly, and he was bleeding all over, low pulse, wasn't breathing, all that, but he's fine now. But get this, not a single bone in his body is broken."

"_Really? That's strange. I designed your survival suits to be a bit like body armor, but it can't withstand intense pressure like that."_

"Yeah, it looks pretty beaten, but he seems okay for some reason."

"_Fortunate, but strange."_

"I know, I thought it was all over there, but he woke up after I gave him CPR and mouth-to-mouth."

"_Well, he _does_ have mystical monkey powers."_

"I thought that only made him some kind of master in Tai Shing Peck Kwar."

"_Key word being 'powers', Kim, as in supernatural, remember?"_

"I have yet to see that, you don't suppose it made his body stronger?"

"_That, or he drinks a whole lot of milk _every_ day. So let me see if I've got everything… Your plane was shot down, you all survived, you took out all of Elurt's henchmen, one happens to be a machine, you took down some kind of weapon, and the nuke was a fake. What's this about some weapon?"_

"It was some kind of giant walking tank."

_"An MPAWV?"_

"A what? Wade, I suck at acronyms now, thanks to Monique."

"_A Military Power Assault Walking Vehicle. I've heard some rumors on it but it shouldn't be out on the market."_

"Oh. I guess… V called it… Fafnir?"

"_That's the codename given to a prototype! So you managed to take it out? That's insane! It was reported to be an ultimate weapon in both offense and defense, close-range and long. In fact, the one in Tibet was supposed to go into mass production in a couple of weeks, but I guess that's out of the picture. Well, your name isn't Kim Possible for nothing."_

"No big, Wade. Well, actually it was, being about seventy feet tall. Once you get past the thick armor, it wasn't too bad. I gotta admit, I couldn't have done it without Ron, Yori and Jen. But right now I want details on what the heck V is, and any other information on any of the other Hands around the world."

"_This could take a while. You guys might also want to leave that hangar, too. My computers indicate it's an official military hangar, and they won't be too pleased when they find out you've destroyed one of their top-secret weapons and nearly destroyed the place, even if it was an act of self-defense and saving the world. The fact that the nuke wasn't a real nuke won't help your argument, either. You know how the governments have been when a prototype weapon has been stolen and you wind up destroying it instead of returning it."_

Kim nodded. "I know, it's happened in at least seven countries now, eight with this one, actually. But I understand. We'll rest in the cave we were at earlier. Besides, it's pretty dark and I don't intend to stay here all night. It's much warmer in the cave."

"_Great. I'll check to see what's up with V, now that you've allowed me to scan those… you know. Unfortunately, I can't contact the other teams to make a move until we find out that kind of information."_

"So they haven't struck yet?"

"_They've been in position for the last two days, but they refuse to strike. So far they haven't reported anything suspicious, no attacks or anything, especially considering your plane was shot down and there was some kind of jamming signal amplifier somewhere, probably that bomb. Regardless, I'll look into everything."_

"Please and thank you, Wade."

* * *

Inside the computer room of his laboratory, which was like a red version of Wade's room, Nev was typing up some information, looking at satellite photos of various areas of the world. 

He became instantly distracted by a beeping image of Kim's Kimmunicator that appeared on the corner of his screen.

'_Wade…'_

As he clicked the icon, his screen turned into a video convo.

"_Nev, great news. Kim at the team are all right."_

Nev sighed out of relief. "Great. I was beginning to think they wouldn't survive out there in the cold. How is the mission going along?"

"_We've run into a few complications…"_

"Such as?"

"_First, one of Elurt's hands fought with Tibet's MPAWV, the Fafnir Prototype. It's been completely destroyed."_

Nev crossed his arms. "Hah, so much for the ultimate weaponry in attack and defense."

"_Second, there was no nuke. It was just a regular bomb."_

"You're kidding… So they went all the way out there for nothing…"

Wade shook his head. _"Actually, they made an interesting discovery about one of Elurt's hands, which is the third thing… but it's pretty gruesome…"_

"Show me."

It took a few seconds for Wade to send Nev the information regarding V's remains and what she was. When the pictures came up all over his screen, he froze in complete shock.

"No… It… can't be…"

He sounded and looked like he had seen a ghost. Not too far off.

"Sweet Jesus… I… It.."

"_Nev?"_

Nev almost destroyed his room by slamming his fists on the keyboard. "Son of a bitch it's a goddamned bio-mech! They're using goddamned bio-mechs! Sweet bloody hell…!"

"_Bio-mechs? _That_ was a Bio-Mech? That's impossible!"_

"Not anymore! If they're using Bio-Mechs, that means…"

Nev took his time to do his research.

"Dammit, just as I thought. Wade, the situation has gotten much worse than I could dare imagine… You'd better call Kim. This is serious."

"_Okay, okay, I'll call her."_

_

* * *

_

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

Kim picked it up as she usually did, just about to leave the hangar.

Wade seemed nervous. "Nev, talk. Now."

Nev came on. _"Kim, the situation has gotten a hell of a lot more serious than ever before…"_

Kim didn't look surprised. "I'm guessing this has to do with what V is…"

"_Definitely. Elurt's hands… all of them… they're nothing more than bio-mechs!"_

Kim could've sworn she heard the term before, but couldn't put her finger on it.

Nev continued anyway. _"You all better listen up, because you're going to need to know the details."_

"Okay, spill."

"_What you just fought were another kind of abandoned military weapon prototype, a bio-mech. For the last four decades, since the Cold War, scientists have spent millions on trying to create the perfect soldier in combat. Of course, the technology was so limited back then, and they had no idea how they were to achieve this. Three concepts were approved: Clone and existing soldier, or create one from scratch. Unfortunately, some of the media slipped it out and many people were furious at the concept alone, but that was nothing. The methods used to gain the DNA usually involved assassinating top-name soldiers and stealing their DNA and blood, experimentation on soldiers, or using aborted fetuses. These kinds of records were forbidden from the public, and a news reporter was even assassinated for getting the story. Berlin, I think."_

"Okay… so we're basically talking about trying to make the ultimate soldier for combat, and I'm guessing they wanted to mass-produce it."

"_Correct. Now, at the time they were able to do nothing but cloning, and of course, that also pissed off a lot of people, and the protests were strong enough to drive some of the scientists to suicide because of all the pressure and confusion. Their colleagues said such things were done only in the name of science, and the protesters thought they were trying to play God. So the cloning ceased in the early 70's. So now, they wanted to attempt to create the ultimate human weapon from scratch, now that computers didn't have to be the size of refrigerators, or so engineers promised at the time. It took them almost ten years to create a robot with a human form, a DRONE. The only thing it was capable of was walking from point A to point B. They needed something that would allow it to go out into the Warfield and fight on its own. In the 90's the programming evolved to the point where it could make decisions on its own. The Japanese helped there."_

"AI…"

"_But maintenance was the biggest issue, and it was in 2000 that a chemical was developed in either Russia or Canada, can't remember. Not only could you program it into a specific shape, but you could control its density – how thick and soft it was. The problem was that it needed to be contained. But that problem was solved with a material that mimicked human skin. This new drone performed extremely well in weapons handling, decision making and hand-to-hand combat. It suffered one fatal flaw, however; penetration. It didn't concern the scientists at the time, but now that they were able to create a human-like weapon, they decided to give it a new name."_

Something in Kim's mind rang. "Syntho-Drone."

"_Created primarily with syntho-kinetic hydraulic containment acid. However, they began to lose interest in creating the body, becoming obsessed with the artificial intelligence. They were separated into series based on studies. Now that the AI had allowed the drone to think in combat situations, fight in hand-to-hand combat, and handle several kinds of weapons, they wanted more. So, more combat styles were studied and programmed, all kinds of weapons were programmed, and more situations. This went on for four years until the technology was perfected. With the late 800A and 800B-series prototype models, separate from the main syntho-drones, they wanted it so that the drone had human-like traits. The artificial intelligence had to be programmed so that the drone could easily pass as human not only in appearance but also in personality. The 800A prototypes were never activated, used to test appearance. Faces were created and planted on them, and as you would guess, they were able to make them look completely human. Eyes, ears, mouth, nose, everything. The 800B series were little more than AI tests to see how they would respond. Just when they were able to complete everything, the project was cancelled by the government. War was already going on and these weapons were not only long past budget, but because the scientists never figured out how to make the bodies stronger, the government considered the weapon useless. A prick of a needle and they would fall, terrible for weapons designed for mass production. But the night they were to all be destroyed, they were all gone - stolen."_

"Shego…"

"_Exactly. Drakken was able to steal not only the technology, but Shego also kidnapped the team of scientists so they could continue their work. They weren't concerned about their toys being used in the hands of evil, they were too obsessed with what they created. If word got out about the 800 series being used in public, they would be hunted down and executed by top spies. But since none of the technology was destroyed, they were finally able to go into the 900 series. Drakken was convinced they had something, but he needed to see a syntho-drone in action before reactivating some of the 800 series models. So, Syntho-Drone 900 was actually a clone of himself. Looked like him, acted like him, but he needed a guinea pig. I'll show you the footage."_

_

* * *

_

_FIND: SHEGO DRESS  
FOUND: SD040405.mpeg  
OPEN FILE  
PLAY_

In Drakken's lair, he seems to be sitting down on the couch, watching an episode of Agony County.

"I still can't believe they're messing with us and thinking those two are going to get together! That would end the show!"

The door then bursts wide open, revealing Shego in a new green and black dress that she probably stole from the mall.

"Hey, Dr. D, I don't mean to intrude on your little mushy mushy soap operas, but… I can't believe I'm asking this… Does this thing make my butt look big?"

Drakken didn't seem to be impressed with what he saw. "Do you want me to be honest or do you want me to say what you want to hear?"

"Both…"

"Well, yes, it does. I actually haven't looked at your butt before, and it is kinda cute now that I think about it."

"'Cute'? What are you… are you asking for some kind of death wish or something?"

Drakken was ignoring her. "Quiet, Shego. I'm watching Agony County."

"Are you ignoring me? Oh, you're so gonna get it now!"

Drakken didn't seem impressed. "Talk to the hand, Shego."

Shego's hands turned into the crimson green blaze they were known for.

"Talk to these ones!"

Right after Shego leaves a brutal wound on Drakken's chest, he suddenly starts bleeding green and appears to be melting. In seconds he's nothing more than a blue pile of skin.

Shego went a shade more pale than she normally was. "D…Doctor D? Drak-… Drakken! What have—I mean… Wait, what the heck is going on here? _Green_ blood?"

The real Drakken then comes out of the closet, laughing his head off. "Oh, Shego, you should have seen the expression on your face! You were all like, 'Oh my gosh, what have I done! Oh, Drakken, no! Why, God, why?'" all while pretending to cry. "Please, Shego, I didn't think you had a soft side in you."

Shego had her arms crossed. "I don't, and for the record, I wasn't crying or any of that. I gotta admit, I'm surprised. For a second I really thought it was you. But do you see any tears? Nooooo!"

Drakken walked around with a smug and confident look on his face. "Oh please, Shego." Then he went into a teasing melody. "I _knoooow_ what I _saaaaaw."_

"Yeah, and you're known to make up stuff, too." Shego retorted. "So what the heck is that thing?"

"The next generation of syntho-drones! Now that I know these things can pass as everyday people, I have the most brilliant plan!"

Shego yawned. "Whoopie."

Drakken then cleared his throat, "Oh, and by the way, Shego, that dress _doesn't_ make your butt look big."

"Aw, that's sweet of you, Dr. D." Shego's face quickly went from a smile to queasy. "God, why do I feel the sudden urge to gnaw my own hand off, hearing that just now? I knew I was going to regret this."

Drakken didn't pay attention to her. "Come, Shego! Before I set you on another kidnapping mission to Tokyo, I have tricked out the hovercraft! Come!"

Drakken then strutted his way out of the lair, leaving Shego rolling her eyes. "_Tricked out_ the hovercraft? There goes another vehicle. I need a real job."

_FEED END: 3:21.42  
STOP_

_

* * *

_

The feed then went into static.

Kim had been giggling the entire time. She never expected Shego to ask that one question (not that Kim hasn't asked that to Ron sometimes), and to Drakken out of all people.

Ron had also been bawling on the floor. "Can we get that on a DVD?"

"_Sure, why not? Anyway, back on subject, more testing was to be done with the 800 series about their combat capabilities, including a few that were never developed. The scientists never did keep count. Sometimes they would create 837 and skip to 840 then 845, so they filled the gaps. However, behind the scenes, Drakken had them working on the second of the 900 series, number nine zero one."_

Kim had an earlier memory: _'Here, I'm known as Syntho-Drone Number 901.'_

She growled. "Erik…"

"_The one Syntho-Drone that was made especially for you, Kim. He didn't even tell Shego, as you might guess. He told Shego he ordered personality upgrades, but the 900 series already had those. He just made Shego think he was going to use the obsolete ones in battle instead, as they lacked the personality upgrades. But Drakken wanted to live in the moment of playing you, the only reason he allowed 901 to betray you. I can only imagine what he would become if he was a human and not a syntho-drone."_

"Okay, thanks for the reminder…" Kim sarcastically replied, "And we all know what happened that night, but what exactly happened to the syntho-drone production when that was over?"

"_The team of scientists Shego had kidnapped told the authorities they only did what they did because they were threatened as hostages. Sadly, the authorities bought it and allowed them to resume their research. The team was good at keeping secrets, though. Drakken had no idea they were originally going to skip the 900 series, already working on the 1000 series for the last six months, only because some of the team members, the ones not obsessed with the AI, wanted to work on the body structure. It would no longer rely on syntho-goo. But Drakken did threaten them to create _syntho_-drones."_

"Not surprised knowing Drakken."

"_Also, the authorities of ten countries threatened that if a 900-series syntho-drone was ever found outside testing labs, they would relieve the scientists of their duties, permanently. Therefore it was considered an abandoned project by several militaries."_

"Blackmail."

"_Here's where things get ugly. The AI chip had been pretty much perfected, but they started from scratch on the body. Even without support from the military or Drakken, they still had the money to continue their work. Just this year they were able to create a human skeleton made entirely out of indestructible metal. They didn't want their creation to appear human just on the outside, but to ensure it passed as a human anywhere, from enemy hospitals, airports, arcades and at romantic dinners, they needed to create an exact replica of the human body internally; organs, blood, muscle, everything. And they succeeded, but not by the traditional means of creating everything. Some human organs and functions are impossible to replicate even with today's technology, and that's where they used real human ones…"_

"Wrongsick."

"_So once that was done, and the machine was able to come to life, appearing human, acting human, and doing any and every human thing he could, from eating, sleeping, being attracted to girls, playing sports, bungee jumping and driving a car, everything that involved physical use both minimal and maximum, it was confirmed. Outside, they have the same material used in Syntho-Drones for their skin and clothes, but now the inner body was just as strong as a normal human. No more leakage. Earlier this June, they had finally created the artificial human. Because of the technology, the weapon was given a new name: The Biomechanical Human Drone. In short, the term is Bio-Mech."_

"So you're saying that every one of Elurt's hands are one of these?"

"_Yes. I have no doubt about it."_

Kim sighed in relief. She wasn't a killer after all, nor Yori. Also, things made a lot more sense, now. Elurt's hands were of all ages, races, and of both genders. Of course a bio-mech disguised as a small girl would throw someone off. This would also explain V's psychotic behavior and beliefs; she and the other fifteen were probably all programmed to be megalomaniacs.

"It's a bit more gruesome, but I don't see why that's so much worse than a nuke."

"_It's a bit of a personal matter, too, but…"_

"Okay, before you tell me anymore, you're going to tell me why you know all this and what the personal matter is. I won't let you chicken out of it either, Nev."

The two exchanged stares for some time. Whenever Kim demanded some information, she got it.

Nev groaned. _"The Bio-Mech technology… it's the very thing that's keeping me alive!"_

He slammed his head into the keyboard, losing the war and finally confessing his deepest secret. However, that wasn't going to be all of it.

"Whoa, back up…" Kim was confused. "How is that possible? You're not actually one of them, are you?"

Nev pulled his head from the keyboard, looking like hell. _"No. You see… I hate this story… I'm guessing Ron didn't tell you anything… Good."_

Kim looked at Ron, who was laying down but listening.

"Didn't say a word, compadre!"

"_Another story, I suppose…"_ Nev groaned. _"Kim, have you ever wondered why I asked about you and Ron when we first met? Why you two got together?"_

"I was curious at first, but I figured later it was just a way to get to know us. Then again, everyone was excited to see us together. I'm sure that wasn't the reason, though."

"_You're right, it wasn't. It was because there was a time I liked a girl and… things didn't go well. I wanted to know what I did wrong."_

"You had a crush on someone?"

Jen grinded her teeth when she heard this.

"_It was a long time ago… three years. Anyway, like you and Ron, I had a friend who I had known since the second grade. I had a small crush on her when I first met her, but because I was young and naïve, I didn't understand the feeling, but as time went on, I met up with her every now and then, but I never had that strong friendship you and Ron have. It was only until after graduation that I really started to get to know her… so I thought. She never had any dedicated friends to take her out, so I decided to be a friend and take her out to a movie, a meal, that stuff. It was just a friendly gesture, honestly, and to be even more honest that's what I keep telling myself. She was very cute, nice, intelligent, artistically talented, an awesome cook, but she had that pure quality to her. She was clumsy as hell, and I honestly thought that made her more human, because she seemed depressed a lot."_

"That was nice of you to do, but answer me this… why do most guys go for girls who seem all pure?"

The reason for this question was because most of the innocent girls seemed like damsels and weak, while she was a cheerleader, but a smart and strong one. Kim thought guys went for weak girls for control, but Nev didn't seem like the type.

"_It's like a girl is crying for help, and the guy knows he can. It's not pig-headedness or and ego thing, most of the time, but sometimes you think you can help open up someone because they have an inner potential waiting to be unleashed. Not only in personality but what they can achieve."_

"That makes sense, more of the protect the damsel in distress thing."

"_I suppose. But after high school we started hanging out a lot, becoming good friends, hanging out every night and talking about things like movies, art, and the like, a lot of people hinted that she was crushing on me, and that's when I realized I was crushing on her, but I didn't believe she shared the same feelings, and for good reason, too. So, one night she asked me out on a real date, and it was no more than a damn setup. It was nothing more than some kind of test to become accepted into the real career she wanted to do: Villainy. To become the pupil of some big name villain, she was to kill someone important in her life, to prove how dedicated she was to her work. Armed with two swords, she practically tore my body apart and also my limbs. I should've died that night. In fact, she _did_ kill me that night."_

"Nev, t-that's terrible. I… I'm sorry."

Nev didn't listen. _"I was in a coma for seven months after the incident, and I woke up some kind of machine. Whatever parts she destroyed were replaced with artificial organs, nerves were replaced with wires, blood vessels were replaced with tubes, basically my whole chest and stomach portions of my body are now… how should I say this… half of it's my original organs, half of it's mechanical, exactly like my heart. Half-mechanical, half human. I don't even know who saved me or how it happened. I didn't care, though. Christie betrayed me as a friend because her work was much more important to her. I found out she was influenced by Shego."_

"Did she know her? Shego _has_ trained a few people before."

"_No. Christie downloaded a lot of videos of her, including one training video on the net Shego made before she joined up with Drakken. To her, Shego was the perfect woman of this generation: Cool, sexy, wild, and dangerous. After proving her loyalty to her duties, Christie got accepted into a group called RNA, who hire out assassins. She had one last mission before she was going to be accepted, though: Break out the RNA leader from prison and kill him."_

"And?"

"_Ripped to shreds from the gun cameras. She could kill but she was poor in infiltration. From what her family had told me, I was much better off than she was. She had a closed casket at the funeral, and it was chained up so someone wouldn't be a smartass and open it up. I only learned of the bio-mech technology a few months after leaving the hospital, and that's when I created my lab. To be honest, I was hoping the work would kill me so I wouldn't have to live like this, but no one seemed to notice anything different when I went out and bought stuff. It was only something the hospital and Christie's family know… and Ron… and now all of you. I would later spend my days on the computer, looking for something to take my mind off of it, to find a new hobby. That's also when I met our old friend, Val, and only a couple of months before, he was crushed by his girl."_

Kim was speechless.

Jen wiped a tear from her eye. "That's why you hate girls, isn't it?"

"_Never said that. I'm afraid to get into a relationship because I have this paranoid feeling that I'm going to be betrayed again. Honestly, Kim and Ron are the only ones I know in a relationship who haven't betrayed each other. That's why I chose to help them. But also, I can't help but become attracted to girls who look cute and have that innocent vibe, only to find out they're anything but. In fact, I haven't even found someone with that vibe who actually _is_ pure of heart, body, mind and soul. It's always the same 'I look cute and innocent, but I'm anything but!' bullshit. Unfortunately, that reminds me of the past, and how some people can be so… conniving… pisses me of to no end."_

"So that's why you haven't told me anything…" Jen quietly replied.

"_I don't like to worry people with my own problems and issues, Jen. I know it's an old memory I need to let go of, but each time when I put on my clothes in the morning, I see the machines inside my body… what's left of it, anyway, and it's nothing more than a constant reminder of what Christie did to me. To this day I still don't understand how someone could be so manipulative. I'm just glad the bastard responsible for setting her up against me and sending her to die was found a month ago missing most of his own body. But still, what I have is incurable, and while I've been able to hide the appearance of it when I take off my shirt since my first encounter with Kim and Ron, I'll die if I try to perform surgery on myself. Now I find out the technology that keeps me alive is being used to destroy the world…"_

"I… really don't know what to say toward your situation, Nev…" Kim weakly spoke, "That's the sickest story I've ever heard, but… What's the real threat of the bio-mechs?"

Nev sighed, trying to clear his mind. _"The technology used on me is now considered outdated. Elurt's henchmen were originally syntho-drones, but I'm guessing whoever this Dive guy is managed to find some people to upgrade them into Bio-Mechs. The first time you fought Elurt's Hands, they were weakened by a Flash Grenade, because it also emits a radio frequency that's meant to tamper with camera equipment, but it's also the same frequency as their AI chips. So even if they look away, they're still affected. However, when they were upgraded when you and Ron had your problem, everything was different. It was all done within the course of two days, I believe. I don't know how, but now they aren't affected by any kind of electronic disrupting frequency. Otherwise, they would've killed themselves with that jamming signal that prevented communication between us. But they still had the same body structure weakness. Their skeleton is was thought to be indestructible, but the rest of their body isn't, and now I know their skeletons aren't either. You blew up V completely, so no worries, and by the metal detection I pick up in the area, the other three blew up as well. Explosions aren't their only weakness, but they also suffer from one more: The neck. It's no less fragile than the human neck."_

"So that's why E died."

Yori spoke out loud. "As well as F and G… but they had self-destruct mechanisms on them… That's why the explosion that struck Stoppable-san was bigger than that of an ordinary bomb, because it hit whatever bomb V had on herself."

"_Makes sense. I don't know why they had self-destruct mechanisms on them, but we'll worry about that later. Anyway, I did a little research after Wade told me, and I found out that the Bio-Mechs are **still** being upgraded, illegally I might add. Worse, they're in the wrong hands. If anything goes wrong now, **your** name is going to be blamed."_

"What? How would that be? I don't know anything about how to create this kind of technology."

"_Oh, I know. I'm not referring to Kim Possible. I'm referring to the name 'Possible'."_

Kim was silent.

"_Two words, Kim: Hephaestus Project."_

Kim groaned. "Not again, but… how? After the Lil' Diablo fiasco my dad started working on it so that it would be difficult for it to be used in bad situations."

"_That didn't stop Drakken from planning beforehand. Before he put his final operation in motion, he sold the technology, and with how much he got for it, he was able to buy a specific restaurant company…"_

Ron growled. "Bueno Nacho…"

Kim rolled her eyes. "I'm guessing this potential buyer is working for Elurt and Dive now."

"_When your dad created the project, he was working with limited resources. If he were a high name in the government or even congress, he would be allowed access to much more restricted materials, those banned from the public and even your dad. Somehow, this third person got access to them, including a metal created in the UK: Bradtosium, a metal that can be shaped into any form, have any density, was indestructible, and get this, it could repair itself."_

Kim was extremely familiar with this, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "So…"

"_Use the Hephaestus Technology to create some of the organs and skin, and mixed with the Bradtosium, now used to create the skeleton, you have a human-like weapon that can regenerate itself."_

Ron realized something. "Wait, wait. Isn't the Hephaestus Project supposed to grow, too? Like how the Lil' Diablos turned huge?"

"_It has many uses, but all of its features are optional. Also, from the encrypted reports, it looks like there's no need for a signal to control it anymore."_

"Okay, that _is_ bad. So we have to stop Elurt, Dive and this last guy before they go into mass production."

"_Too late, Kim. Elurt's still in Bay City, in the very same building you encountered him in. He also has over a **thousand** of these new Bio-Mechs protecting all of the floors. This is why they sent you to fight obsolete ones, so they could prepare these ones without your interference. Unfortunately, I'm in no physical condition to go after them."_

"They're obviously guarding something…" Kim then snapped her fingers. "The REAL nukes!... Wait, now I remember! Isn't Bradtosium the same metal used on my battle suit?"

Kim had a flashback to when she was fighting with Shego and her arm healed, also with her final fight with Val when it _didn't_ heal.

Wade broke in. _"Yes, it's the same material, and it can only heal or shape shift when something is powering it with electricity, which is why your suit didn't heal when it was powered down."_

Nev then realized something. _"Wait, if it can be that light… no doubt they would use it for the skin. I forgot it can also be colored and textured so that it feels like something else."_

Kim remembered. "Right, it kind of felt like a metallic silk. I guess it's safe to assume Ron's was made out of the same thing."

Nev nodded. _"I used a wider variety of materials, but the overall suit was made from it. But how to destroy Bradtos-"_

"Electromagnetic scrambler?"

Wade broke in. _"Sorry Kim, you're out of those and I've been waiting two weeks already to receive the parts necessary to make more. See, this is why I hate the UPS, the materials come from the state next door, and somehow it goes across the opposite side of the country first."_

Nev then broke in. _"I don't have any on me. Sorry."_

"Darn…"

"I think I have just the thing…" Jen realized as she dug through her pockets. "Well, _had_ the thing. Nev, you don't suppose an EFG would help?"

"_An Electronic Flash Grenade? Perfect! Why didn't I think of that?"_

Wade agreed. _"Of course, the frequencies differ than that of Flash and Chaff grenades, and if my studies are correct, and EFG releases a chemical that permanently destroys outdated electronics in the area, which unfortunately is useless, but it also ceases Bradtosium Regeneration, even with a power source near."_

Kim curved her eyes. "And you never told me about this weapon, Wade?"

He shook his head. _"It's not a common weapon, in fact it's much, much, much older than today's jamming technologies. But I didn't want you to use this weapon if you had your battle suit on, because it would probably destroy it. That's why I didn't want to you take it out to fight Drakken on Prom night, but luckily no one was armed with an EFG that night."_

"I see. Well, I don't have the battle suit on me, anyway. You don't suppose you can get me a few of these EFG's, do you?"

Wade then spoke. _"I've been able to duplicate the technology, and they're already on their way to Nev so you can pick them up when you return to Bay City. Keep in mind it only affects regenerative metals. Most other metals these days are designed not to be affected, which is why if you used them out there, nothing happened."_

Jen groaned. "Learned that the hard way."

Kim went on. "No big. So that's the new situation… A thousand new hardcore bio-mechs. Any more and Elurt can make an army that can regenerate and is indestructible, probably guarding the real nukes, and we still have Dive to deal with."

Yori popped the question. "So, Possible-san, what exactly is the new mission now?"

"Okay, we head back to Bay City, destroy the bio-mechs, capture Elurt and Dive, find and retrieve those nukes. After that, find out whoever is still tampering with the Bio-Mech technology and put a stop to their work. So Nev, how's that jet coming along?"

Nev chuckled. _"Glad you asked. It'll be there in two hours. I've located that cave you four rested in earlier, so it'll land closeby."_

Wade looked embarrassed. _"I'd send the one I was also working on, but gas prices here are ridiculous!"_

"AMEN!" Everyone shouted at once, except Yori. American-style humor.

"_That's why I had mine filled long before gas prices went up. But I only just finished the navigation AI. Anyway, that's pretty much all the information, I think. I should probably drink something. But the military is on their way to see what the deal was, and they won't be happy to see a top-secret weapon of theirs destroyed. Don't worry about them detecting the plane. Stealth in both appearance and radar. Waka waka waka!"_

"Ooooooookay…!" Kim nervously answered. "What are you going to do about the other teams?"

Wade answered. _"Funny you should ask. I knew of the bio-mechs, so Nev's history story wasn't news to me, except the personal one. But while he was explaining, I told the teams to go in and told them what they were up against. Get this, the four places threatened by the nukes were actually the only four military bases on the planet that carried an MPAWV, and they've all been destroyed. The Hands in those locations are dead, and just as we suspected, they were all bio-mechs. The teams have also been notified of false nukes, so the warheads have been transferred to a proper bomb disposal facility for investigation. We're pretty much done here. My scan's not picking up any suspicious activity."_

Kim rubbed her head. "Wow, that was quick. Okay, we'll head back to the cave, then. We'll wait for Nev's jet to arrive and we'll be on our way back."

"_Later!"_

Both cut their communication.

Kim grabbed her bag again, and the others took the time to stretch.

"Well, come on, team!"

* * *

Dive had to hold the phone at a distance. 

"_Dive! You scum, you've double-crossed me!"_

That didn't prevent him from being calm. "What ever are you talking about, Elurt?"

"_You promised me they would be indestructible! You only made them worse! Now they're all dead!"_

"When you know how to work on such intricate technology, you try to do it. Until then, shut the hell up, old man."

"_You…!"_

"Regardless, they will be coming back here for you. Be thankful I've helped in the mass production of these new regenerative versions."

"_They better not have their weaknesses, or else…"_

"Or else what? There's no such thing as indestructible technology."

"_I'm starting to regret my alliance with you."_

"That's not a decision for you to make. You remember how we met, and even then your bodyguards couldn't help you. You had me at gunpoint and couldn't hurt me at all. What makes you think you're in any position to threaten me?"

Elurt groaned. He had nothing on Dive.

"You now have over a thousand bio-mechs to protect you. Also, the team may be no match for you should the mechs fail."

"_You had better deliver on your promises, Dive. I don't feel comfortable with your secrecy and changing your name on me."_

"Get used to it. But remember, Possible and Stoppable are mine. You can have Ferno and the Japanese girl."

"_I have no interest in those two."_

"Those are the terms. If you don't want Ferno or Yori, you don't have to have them. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you; Possible and Stoppable are mine."

"_With how absolute you are, I fail to see how you were a former agent for the government."_

"I'm not surprised, seeing that I'm the first you know."

"_You really made it sound like this plan was flawless, but it's falling apart."_

"Quite the contrary. In fact, everything is going as planned. You see, I didn't expect the team to be taken out by the Hands. In fact, I didn't even expect for them to be destroyed by the Fafnir."

"_What do you mean? Why did you send my henchmen to places with a weapon of mass destruction if you knew they were going to fail?"_

"They didn't fail. They did exactly as I instructed them to do."

"_There was another motive for these four particular locations?"_

"Did you honestly believe I was going to destroy such places? Please. The four locations I had your Hands… You do realize they were the exact locations where four out five of the world's only MPAWVs were. That's another threat out of the way."

"_You're telling me you intended for those weapons to be destroyed?"_

"Exactly. The governments of the world would surely use those against us. Why go through all the trouble to destroy them yourself if you can find others to do it?"

"_So you lured them with a nuke, a fake one I might add. You didn't even tell _us_ that they were fake. Why are you sparing me such important details?"_

"Because… if _you_ can't figure it out… _they_ can't figure it out."

"_So, is that it, then? You're just using any and everything I have in my wallet to do what you want?"_

"I don't see what the crisis is. It wasn't like you were doing anything important, unless you consider parading around in your lair because you double-crossed one of your own colleagues as something important."

"_You know they're also going to send all kinds of military commandos from around the world to capture me, now that they think the nukes are here. Are you just going to leave me behind?"_

"Relax, the preparations have been made. You have ten bio-mechs on each floor, and I've had them install gun cameras on the outside. They won't be able to make an aerial landing unless they want their plane shot down and risk the deaths of witnessing innocents. If they can't cover it, that means trouble for them. There's also various traps I placed around the city should I need to disarm the guns on the IO building."

"_So I just sit around hoping that the bio-mechs will be able to protect me?"_

"Wait around for a while. If everything fails, I will provide an escape path on the roof. I'll take you out of danger forever."

"_What's that supposed to mean?"_

"This is nothing more than an experiment. You know this as well as I."

"_You mean I've spent over seventy million on this… 'experiment'?"_

"The governments of the world spend ten times as much on more trivial things. We've achieved more in a week than their scientists have in a year. Besides, seventy million is less than half of what the real costs are. Making the preparations for taking over the military bases where the four MPAWVs were, covering up their destruction, upgrading your syntho-drones into bio-mech drones, the mass production of the new prototypes… I could go on. You're getting quite a bargain."

"_Top Secret Military weapons… False nukes… Bio-mechs… stopping Team Possible…? What is it that you're really after?"_

"Many, _many_ things… but I also have unfinished business with the fox and the sloth."

"_The sloth… how did you know he was going to be the one who would try to deactivate the bomb?"_

"That's how their team works. While Possible is busy with the henchmen, Stoppable goes after what they're guarding. Sometimes they switch, but not with a giant 70-foot weapon."

"_So you set him up to deal with a fake…"_

"Fake? The one in Tibet was anything but…"

"_Wait, you mean the bomb had another purpose…?"_

"You're starting to catch on."

"_What of the other locations?"_

"They were fakes, but the one in Tibet had a… _special_ purpose…"

"_So…"_

"I will not go into detail. There's always a chance this conversation will be tapped and monitored and we will be eavesdropped upon."

"_Isn't this feed secure?"_

"Now that they know you're here, they've probably got some of their best hackers coming in on us. I wouldn't be surprised that since we know of the existence of their MPAWV prototypes, they're going to send BDAs (Battle Damage Assessments) to investigate the four sites, especially knowing that there have been no casualties other than the pilot. The latest top-secret military stealth weapon, designed to travel in the air, on land and underwater… destroyed by four teenagers. Two ninjas, a sniper, and… a cheerleader. How embarrassing…"

"_Incredible."_

"Hardly. You're just making the same mistake I did once… underestimating them."

"_What is your relationship with them, anyway? It sounds like revenge."_

"Revenge? …It's nothing so petty as revenge. I just wish to see two friends again…"

"_Friends…?"_

"We have some catching up to do… Well, it's time I prepare for the next phase…"

"_And what would that be?"_

"Entertainment… I wish to give the girls a taste of things to come…"

"_How? You're in an underground base."_

"Oh, I have ways. "

Dive hung up the phone, and continued to spy on all four military sites in a pitch black room, lit only by four computer screens.

"I personally don't favor doing the same thing over and over again… but let's see if she can… catch on…"

He turned around and was looking into the eyes of the fifth and final MPAWV.

Harpuia.


	15. 14: Treachery

**Chapter 14: Treachery**

_Well, now we enter chapter 14. Before we start off, one review Q&A_

_charizardag: I won't answer any more plot details, so don't ask, but no. Nev's body structure won't allow for it._

_And now the reviews section is rated M thanks to Zaratan. Just kidding :P  
_

_Also, this chapter is pretty much the gap to the conclusion, which we'll be reaching soon (doy). I'm kinda glad I didn't upload the first draft of this. Rewrites help. Again, correct me for any mistakes in the plot or story!  
_

**

* * *

**By now, everyone had returned to the cave and were cleaning themselves up, at least those who had the strength to. The girls took their time, seeing as they were all covered in smoke from head to toe. They didn't want to taint the pure water of the hot spring, but fortunately Yori managed to find a bowl-shaped rock, probably used for this very purpose. After Kim was finished, she quickly went back to her bag to see if there was any equipment that would be of any use to help Ron. After all, they had left a bloody trail on the way back, as Ron could hardly walk. He thought he was fine, but none of the girls allowed him to be any more reckless.

Kim still had a hard time accepting everything that had happened. Not only did Ron somehow survive being smashed between a steel door and an iron wall, but he also didn't suffer a single broken bone. To make things less acceptable by realistic standards, he was somehow healing at an incredible rate. Was this what the Mystical Monkey Power truly was about? How long had been active? The last thing Kim was going to believe was that Ron's training somehow made him indestructible like warriors in martial arts films who could be crushed over and over and somehow live.

Yori had applied some herbs back when they were in the hangar, but there was nothing in Kim's bag other than more bandages, more painkillers, and other things shewasn't too comfortable with using to heal him, mostly surgical materials.

Ron wasn't the only thing Kim's mind was on. The two had survived death and death again, and Kim was starting to get used to it, but what really took her mind elsewhere was the entire mission. Once again she had been played, going all the way across the world only to find out they were trying to disarm a fake nuke. What was the real motive? Was it like Nev guessed, that a thousand bio-mechs were mass produced in the time it took to get from Bay City to the Hangar?

No, Kim thought, there had to be more. She didn't know what the MPAWV was, or why it was suddenly brought up in this whole thing. Did Elurt's henchmen intend to steal them? Well, either way, all four in the world were destroyed. Did it matter anymore? What if there were more? And maybe she wasn't right about the nukes being in Bay City. It would make sense that they would be kept there, but not to detonate them. Four nukes in the same place would only pound the city harder, not actually spread wider from a combination. But then again, nuclear studies weren't a course offered at Middleton.

Unfortunately, Wade and Nev couldn't detect any in Bay City. They must have been stealth missiles of some kind.

"Kim?"

Needless to say, Kim didn't like it when she couldn't figure out something. It was finally starting to come on her how serious the situation might have been. If she couldn't figure out a plan, it meant trouble.

"Hello?"

So there was a secret military site in Tibet, Mexico, the US, and Antarctica with one of these mechanical devils. Was there perhaps another reason these locations were picked out? Sure, a nuke in the US would be catastrophic and send the world into chaos, a nuke in Mexico City would cause massive casualties, and it also has a heavy risk of being in the wrong hands. Everest being taken out by a nuke would not only see the end of a historical legend, but the winds would also affect the nearby areas. And Antarctica? The heat from the nukes would allow the glaciers to melt, therefore flooding several countries. But they couldn't be ideal places for four of the strongest weapons on earth.

"Kiiiiim…"

But the nuke wasn't a nuke. There had to be a reason for this… for everything.

"KP…?"

Kim finally sighed. "Ron, what?"

Ron was trying to whisper from her ear, but he backed away. "You're going to give yourself a migraine if you think about the situation too much."

Kim sighed. "I just can't crack it. You get the feeling…"

"… that something really bad is going to happen?" he asked with a casual tone. "Almost always."

Ron Stoppable: Fearless or fearful.

He was sitting against the wall of the cave, still resting and listening to his orders not to make any drastic movements. He had never been in a situation where Kim, Yori and Jen all made strict orders for him not to move. They were all tough and he would suffer their fury if he disobeyed. Of course, leaning in closer to Kim to grab her attention didn't count. Speaking of the other two, Yori was still in the process of cleaning herself, but Jen was oddly quiet, sitting near the hot spring with no expression on her face.

Ron felt a slight bit of pain as Kim snuggled herself closer to him, but she looked tired, yawning.

"So what else do you propose, Ron? As much as I love the hot spring, getting out is another story."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm still a'hurtin. I'm just going to sit back and rest longer."

Kim still wasn't sure if she should have been concerned over how quickly he was healing. Back at the hangar, Ron didn't take the situation seriously, perhaps from disbelief, and he probably wasn't going to accept it even now. He didn't really realize that he was actually dead for a few minutes, and that Kim somehow revived him. Maybe it was just her. Perhaps it was his powers… Did Ron possess some kind of healing ability, or did he-

"Kim, you're thinking too hard about things again."

Kim also didn't like it when her train of thought was disrupted, but she knew Ron was doing it because he cared… this time at least. Most of the other times were because he saw a cool video game or wanted to eat. Maybe that's why he was good at keeping her stress level low - he would never allow her to think too hard on a situation. Whether this was good or bad was arguable.

Yori thought she was starting to get used to seeing the two very close to each other, but she was also glad that Ron was okay. But why did Kim react the way she did? Yori had seen students at Yamanuchi fall from the highest trees and land on their face, only to get up and try again. It was a test to see how long one could maintain their balance. There were also those who were forced to carry bricks on their back, and some would collapse under the weight. None of them were severely injured, though. To Yori, none of this was different. Yes, it was painful to watch, but it couldn't have been something he was going to die from, or could it?

Kim's tears… Ron had been out like a rock and Kim was freaking out. Ron had lost a lot of blood in less than a second; appearing extremely pale once Kim pulled the door away from him, especially when she peeled him off the iron wall.

Maybe Kim did care about Ron… more than Yori ever would.

Was it a crime to fall for a guy because he was the only boy who treated you like a human being? Like a person?

Then again, Yori didn't want to tell Ron about her past, her childhood.

Perhaps there was more to love…

Ferno-san was actually a good person to go for knowledge and advice, but Yori noticed that Jen hadn't said a word since returning to the cave, appearing extremely depressed. Yori knew why. Jen had been working with Nev for a couple of months, but she had known him for less than half a year. She could tell there was a strong friendship between them, but nothing in comparison to what Kim and Ron had before they started dating. Jen was someone who disliked a lot of things, but for the things she did like, she was caring and passionate.

Perhaps it was separate views. Maybe Jen told herself she and Killbourne were close friends. Maybe he thought they were just comrades, friends, or just a colleague. Or maybe he intentionally kept a lot of secrets. He wasn't exactly open about everything he was doing, from personal projects that involved computer skins, stories, movies, or cartoons. In fact, he was extremely secretive about who he was and what he liked. He had the flaw of asking people about who they were, but was too shy or embarrassed to share his own details.

Now they knew why.

Yori didn't know the guy very well, so she wasn't as surprised as everyone else was when hearing it. Ron learned the story back when he had his battle suit created, but Kim and Jen had no idea. Kim felt miserable and guilty for asking the question, since she had no idea some people were like that. Yes, many of the girls in Middleton liked to toy around with guys, and some guys did like to be teased. Unfortunately, the plug never went into the socket; the girls who liked to toy around with guys did it to those who hated it. This went both directions, obviously. A lot of kids in Middleton were cruel, not just to Ron, and that was another reason Kim didn't hang out with every single group, though she was more than capable of doing so because of how open she was. But to hear of someone getting manipulated into a trap from a friend, and waking up seven months later as a cyborg… she knew the world was cruel, but that story was too much for even her.

Just by the guilt in Kim's eyes when she heard the story, everything was clear to Yori what was going on in her mind. Jen almost burst into tears, but was using every ounce of strength in her body from appearing weak.

To Yori, it wasn't difficult to figure out.

Jen wasn't crying because a friend of hers suffered, it was because someone she had feelings for suffered. Could she accept that this person was not what he appeared to be?

Looking at her eyes right now from across the cave, it was hard to say. In fact, Yori couldn't even see her thoughts through her eyes. She could see compassion, sadness, anger, any emotion by looking at the two jewels on someone's face. But Jen had no expression. She looked depressed, but it wasn't clear whether it was sadness or hate.

Probably a good idea to leave her alone for now.

"Yori?"

Stoppable-san's voice.

Yori turned to Ron. Kim was still snuggled up against him and had an arm around him, but she appeared to be asleep. Yori slowly approached her old friend.

"What is it, Stoppable-san?"

"You look more worried than usual. What's on your mind?"

Weird, it was like Ron switched brains with Jen.

"It's nothing important."

Ron smirked. "C'mon, Yori, it's not that hard to tell."

Oh, if only there was an easy way to walk out of this one.

"I am just having a few memories of today, how you were injured, Killbourne-san's story, and how Possible-san and Ferno-san are taking it… She looks really depressed."

Ron took a look at the quiet blonde sitting near the spring. The reflection of the water gave her a pale blue complexion, almost like Drakken.

"That was Nev's biggest secret. Surely he didn't want everyone to know, but at least he didn't show them the details. He probably held it back from Jen so it wouldn't scare her."

Both sighed. Neither trained ninja was a stranger of emotions.

"Stoppable-san… do you think she is going to be okay?"

Ron took his time to think of an answer.

"The shock will wear off… when, I don't know."

Yori was quiet until something else came to mind.

"So how are you coming along?"

Ron didn't even look at himself. "Me? Eh, itchy and painful in some places, but a little… it's hard to say… It's not dizziness, not queasiness… it's like all my senses are being constrained… if that makes any sense, probably not."

"Hmm…" Yori acknowledged.

Ron actually felt numb in a lot of areas, his eyesight was a bit blurry, but internally he was feeling something he never felt before. It wasn't pain, it wasn't numbness, but it was something he wasn't completely comfortable with.

In fact, it kind of felt like a hungry stomach, but he had eaten less than an hour ago. The feeling also surrounded his entire body, not just the stomach. Very similar to the time Kim wrapped her arms around him at Prom, but it couldn't have been that right now. He had gotten used to that feeling rather quickly.

"So… how is Possible-san?"

Yori couldn't help but observe Ron's sleeping girlfriend, who looked so comfortable and peaceful. In fact, Yori hadn't seen her smile at all this entire time, even in Bay City. She really looked so much different than when she was in battle.

"KP? I guess the fight and all the thinking wore her out. I'm kind of worried about her myself."

"She seems okay…"

Ron chuckled. "I know her. If she can't figure out something, she becomes obsessive, and that can be scary. She always has to get her bad guy, and usually plans are… well, simple. Steal a laser gun, threaten the world, that's it. But this is different, even for her. Heck, it's the first time we've tried to take out a nuke, only to find out it was a fake, and we took out some giant walking tank thing. Well, you and she did, anyway. I didn't expect that one."

"How about you? Have you thought about what is going on?"

Ron scoffed at himself. "I'm terrible at figuring out stuff, and it's not like this Elurt guy is a regular. When it comes to Drakken, Monkey Fist and Killigan, it's easy to find out. But this, I'm clueless."

"You give yourself too little credit, Stoppable-san."

Ron took a moment to look at some the bandages on him. "A little? Heh, I got overconfident and look what happened… I'm a wreck."

"We all make mistakes, even the most wise and most brave," Yori tried to assure him.

"Heh, I doubt Sensei ever has."

Yori rolled her eyes with a smile. "Don't be so certain, Stoppable-san. There was one time he accidentally put his colored clothes to be washed with the white tunics at the school. Needless to say, everyone's clothes were red and yellow on the first day of class, but that was well over three years ago."

"I stand corrected." Ron sighed. "I'm sorry for everything, Yori."

Yori blinked a couple of times. "Sorry? For what, Stoppable-san? You have done nothing wrong."

Ron shook his head. "I mean the stuff between me and KP. I've been trying not to get all affectionate and all PDA in front of you. I don't want to be rude or anything."

"PDA?"

"Public display of affection. Either really cute, or _extreeeeeeeemely_ annoying. I know I didn't like to see guys flirt with Kim or see Kim flirt with some guys, especially with Erik…"

Yori put a finger on his lip. "Stoppable-san, it's not your fault. I know I can't shake my feelings for you… even now, but I intend to keep my promise of not interfering with your relationship with Possible-san."

Ron wasn't convinced. "Yori, the pain's written all over your face. It's not easy seeing someone you care about being kissed or hugged or any of that stuff by someone else. I know. I'm not going to force you to see things you don't want to. You're strong, Yori, but we're all made with weaknesses."

Yori sighed. "You're right, Stoppable-san. Sensei would say the same thing…"

Now that Yori brought up his name, she couldn't help but sense an ominous feeling in the cave. Why Sensei's name? It wasn't a feeling of danger… Sensei couldn't have been around…

"Oh, please," Ron replied, breaking Yori's thoughts. "Sensei's probably got an IQ of 300 and I've got one of 70 or something. But anyway, I don't want you to feel hurt in any way. Talk to me if you're not feeling comfortable, okay?"

The kindness in Ron's heart made Yori want to do something else, and not on the cheek this time. But she was trained to constrain herself, but it was much harder when it came to her emotions. That smile, his sincere eyes…

Her thoughts were then interrupted by the sound of water. Jen had tried to wash her face from the spring water in an attempt to clean her own thoughts.

Yori sighed. "I should go talk to her, Stoppable-san. Again, thank you for your caring concern."

Ron just gently nodded, acknowledging with a smile. Little did he know Kim was listening on the whole conversation.

* * *

Over at the spring, Jen was cleaning her face, staring at the moving reflection in the water. Much like Kim, she was also having a hard time grasping everything that had happened. The death of an artificial human known as a bio-mech, knowing that the nuke was a fake, what Nev truly was… The last one was the thing that kept her mind in a mess. How could something like that be possible? How could any of this be possible? 

Unlike Kim, Jen hadn't experienced a lot of the unreal things Kim had. The hyper speed female robots, jumping into the TV, no alien experiments, no half-man, half monkey martial artists, no villains with blue and green skin, no mutating lake, none of that. Sure, the Fafnir was a giant war machine, and Jen had her suspicions about the weapon's existence, but she knew little of the syntho-drones and nothing on the bio-mechs. She kept telling herself that was the reason for her funk.

But no, that wasn't it at all. Her concentration didn't change any when she noticed a reflection approaching.

"Hey Yori. How's Ron?"

Yori sat down next to her, and took a gaze at her own reflection. She could see why Jen was staring at it for the last hour or so.

"He is healing very quickly," Yori replied, "But we noticed your depression. Is everything okay?"

"I'll get over it," Jen immediately answered. "I'm just in disbelief for everything that's going on. I mean… wow. Bio-mechs in mass production at home… Never would've guessed."

Yori shook her head. "That is not the real reason, is it, Ferno-san?"

Jen didn't take a moment to defend herself. "Not at all."

"I understand, and… I know what it is that you are feeling."

Jen sighed, not in any mood to deny it. "I see, but I don't want advice on it. Not now."

Yori understood and respected Jen's request. "Ferno-san… you should probably get ready. I can hear the engines approaching."

The two then helped each other up. Jen and Yori already had most of their equipment packed, so this left an injured Ron and Kim to pack up. It took them a while to pack up their own things, and just as Ron closed the zipper on his pocket, the jet landed outside.

It looked almost exactly like the one from Bay City, except for the thick armor all over it. Probably a precautionary measure for the trip back. The door opened up and a set of stairs lowered into the thick snow. Kim was the first to get on, dragging Ron behind her with Yori's help.

Jen took the moment to take one last look at the cave. Unless she decided to do worldwide business like Kim, she wouldn't ever be coming back here, and she wouldn't see anything like this again. But when she looked back into the cave…

Nothing was there. No glow, no hot spring, no statues; none of the beautiful scenery, not even the hot spring was there anymore. She was standing in front of a regular cave.

"The hell…?"

Jen pulled out her camera and looked at the pictures in the memory. She knew exactly what she was taking pictures of, and they showed. The scenery, the statues, the beautiful blue glow, it was all in the pictures, but not in the cave she was standing in front of.

"Jen, come on!" Kim yelled.

She didn't know what to make of it. She just shrugged it off and advanced toward the jet.

* * *

Inside, the jet had a different appearance than the other one, being much more roomy, almost like luxury. By the time Jen got on, Yori, Ron and Kim had made themselves comfortable, glad that they were now able to rest on something soft, and the jet was very warm. 

"So… who's flying?" Jen asked. "I almost got all of us killed the last time."

"_I will,"_ Nev's voice on the loudspeaker confirmed. _"It got there on auto-pilot, it'll get you back here on auto-pilot. You guys can all rest. You've earned it."_

Jen just shrugged. "Works for me."

* * *

Unknown Underground Location, USA 

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Login confirmed.

A door opens, revealing some kind of meeting room with the works. A huge table with eleven teenagers sitting down, one empty seat, and a 3D hologram of the world in the middle of the table. It was the only thing lighting up the room.

The last one to walk in, a seventeen-year old purple-haired girl by the name of Eri, took a firm position as she pulled out some papers. She was clearly the leader.

"Sorry I'm late. I'm surprised the rest of you got here as fast as you did."

One of the many teens raised his hand. "How about the other four?"

"Team Possible's plane is leaving Tibet as we speak. They're heading back to Bay City to capture Elurt and Dive, destroy his army of Bio-Mechs, and find the nukes."

Another member at the table raised her hand. "Do you think they can take on the entire army on their own?"

Eri shook her head. "If they were unarmed, I would think so, but if we allow them to go in, it'll be a suicide mission for them. Laser beams and laser guns aren't that hard to avoid, but when you have ten mechs fire automatic machine guns at you with precision aiming, it's doubtful."

A blue-haired boy was the next to ask a question. "So that's it? You made all twelve of us rush out here from a fake nuclear threat to tell us this? You could've told us that on our cell phones or something."

"Of course not, assbolt," Eri retorted, "I asked you all to come here because I've found out much more information regarding Elurt. First of all, he's not the one behind any of this."

Everyone else gave the small girl a shocked glare.

"Then… who is it?"

The picture appeared on the screen. Everyone in the room recognized whoever it was who appeared on the screen. From there, the quiet room became loud as every teen started talking.

"That… traitor… This is bad."

"No shit, pal. That's why this is code red."

"So what do we do?"

"We can't allow Kim Possible or Ron Stoppable to fight him. We have to do her business before she comes back."

"Do you think we can?"

"She's going to get herself killed if we don't. We have to interfere any way we can. It's the least we can do since she's helped us so much in the past."

"Hah, she gets favors from people she doesn't even know."

"That's the point."

"Too bad, it would be nice to meet her in person."

"More so if she weren't taken. Yowza."

"Do you think we can take 'him' out?"

"We have to."

"And what about the nukes?"

"We'll find them somehow."

"I have a question… What about the fifth and final MPAWV, Harpuia?"

The room got silent.

"Stolen…"

"Oh, hell…"

"No doubt he's going to use it against Possible. We have to stop him."

"We had better get there before she does. She hates interference."

"Besides, if we succeed, she'll be in for a nice surprise."

"I guess we owe it to her to cut her some slack."

Eri finally finished the briefing. "That's it then, we're heading in. But we'll keep Load and Killbourne's communication between them tapped, should we find out anything else."

* * *

Meanwhile, Team Possible plus two were staring at the stars outside the window. It was perfectly clear over the pacific, and it would be a matter of time before the sun was going to rise. 

Ron was perhaps the only one uncomfortable. The stars were great to look at, but he didn't want to get all mushy with his GF, especially not in front of Yori, but she refused to stop snuggling herself against her BF. He wasn't exactly in a good position to protest, either. He didn't know what to do, other than sharing uncomfortable expressions with Yori. The Japanese girl just turned back to the windows, trying to find some familiar constellations.

"Wow…" Jen started out, "You never see anything like this in Bay City, not with all the lights and noise."

Kim dreamily sighed. "It's almost like back in the cave. Ron, when we get back, we've so got to go out on a night like this."

"Yeah…" he replied emotionlessly.

Did Kim really have to wrap her arms around him and move her head up and down against him? But Ron feared Kim's reaction if he told her to knock it off. Stuff like this he would never mind alone with her, but in front of two girls, one who had a hard time fighting her feelings for him? Ron didn't like it one bit. Was it really Kim's fault, though? A bit, but all the blame couldn't be put on her.

No, the person who dragged Yori into this, Dive.

Ron wasn't the brightest bulb on a ceiling fan, but he could figure out things if time was given to him, and usually he couldn't with the high school stress or in the midst of battle. This was probably the exact reason that Dive sent Yori after him. He knew Ron didn't have the heart to hurt her, physically or emotionally, and she was going to force herself to team up with them. Typical Yori. She wasn't going to go back to Japan after doing what she did, not until she made it up to Ron. Dive also must've known that Kim wasn't afraid to be affectionate in public, and she wasn't afraid that Yori was going to steal Ron. It was going to throw the team off someway.

That bastard.

Poor Ron. In his life, he always wanted everyone to be happy, even those who refused to seek it. He never liked to see people who were depressed or sad, especially any of his female companions, but was it worth it? Ron was the kind of person who thought everyone could chill out, and even most of their regular villains did in some way. But he wasn't living in some fantasy. He knew good couldn't exist without evil and that there's no such thing as light without darkness. There would always be some conflict somewhere, but he didn't want it to affect those he cared about and loved.

He was steady with Kim now. He wouldn't change that, not even for Yori. But why make her suffer for this?

Something's wrong.

…

The sun had started to rise, and everyone turned their attention to the colors in the sky. It was beautiful.

Kim got herself closer to Ron, her cheek meeting with Ron's.

"I've never seen anything like it, Ron…"

"Neither have I, Kim… you look so beautiful in this light…"

Kim blushed. "Ron…"

Ron had a weird look in his eye, but it was probably the light. "I'm not going to fight it, KP."

"What do you-mmppph"

Out of nowhere, Ron took Kim off her feet and delivered a hard passionate kiss, giving Jen and Yori a front row view. Yori bit her tongue on the sight. Jen appeared disgusted, noticing that Ron was now using his tongue, and protesting against it was the last thing that came onto Kim's mind.

"Ron, what the hell?" Jen angrily asked.

Kim had practically fainted, that or Ron dropped her carelessly, but gave Jen a sinister look. "Back off, Ferno…"

Jen took a step back, purposely blocking Yori's view. It also appeared that Kim was still conscious, but it would take her a while to get out of la la land.

"Wow… Ron… did we.. just…?"

Ron slowly turned around. "Did you enjoy it, too?"

Kim nodded her head, but was too distracted to notice anything suspicious. Suddenly, it appeared as if Ron was going to go in for another kiss, but his hand pinched something… her butt. Everything became crystal clear once that happened, and Kim slapped Ron's hand away as the thought came to mind. A kiss in front of two others was a bit much, but touching her butt?

"Ron, what are you dong?" Kim demanded.

Ron just had a smile. "Ron? Oh, that's right…"

The girls were all skeptical. This wasn't Ron. In a situation like this, Wade might know something, but the second Kim pulled out the Kimmunicator, Ron kicked it out of her hand.

"You will find out nothing, Kimmie…"

At this point, it was obvious Ron was under some kind of mind control. Jen and Yori had already figured it out, but there was no visible sign of a mind control device on Ron. This was a cue for a certain naked mole rat, as he came out of Ron's pocket and crawled all over his body, inspecting him. This would usually tickle Ron, but he didn't laugh. Instead, he grabbed Rufus by the tail and gave him the coldest stare anyone could give someone.

It was enough to scare Rufus, and Ron tossed him toward the wall in disgust. Kim managed to catch her small comrade.

"Ron… stay still…" Kim warned.

"Or else what…?" Ron retorted. "You _can't_ harm me…"

Kim noticed something different in Ron's voice – he was speaking slowly.

She decided to play along. "Oh, really?"

"Really."

Kim started to step in a circle around her BF, but his eyes were locked on hers.

"Kiiiiiim……."

There was no sign of mind control visible on him, not even his eyes.

"What's going on…?"

Ron just smiled at her. "Come on, Kim. You are fully aware of what's going on…"

His raspy breathing gave her a clue.

"Dive…"

Ron's smirk only confirmed it.

"Why are you controlling him?"

Ron just laughed. "You need to ask? Unbelievable. Isn't it obvious that I'm in control of the most powerful person here?"

The girls remained silent as the only boy in the room walked back and forth.

"You may be the brains in the team, Kim. Yori may have all the skills, and Ferno may have the tactical advantage, but Stoppable… you have no idea what his true potential is. If all of his true skills were to be unleashed, he could be the ultimate fighter. Better, stronger, faster, and smarter than all of you in battle. But I don't expect any of you to understand this with your current impression of the buffoon."

Kim started biting her lip. "What do you want, Dive?"

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Just to have a little bit of fun before the real fight begins, Kim. I would be more than glad to take over any of your minds, but Ronnie here is just too stressed, nervous, uncomfortable – weak-minded. Far too much compassion for my tastes."

"Let… him… go…!" she demanded.

"I have a better idea," Ron smirked, "Why don't we play a game? If you can hit me, I will release him. That's the only thing you have to do. Otherwise, you're all mine for the taking. You can hit me wherever you want and however you want. Your move is your own choosing. And don't worry, your friends can help you out if you need assistance."

The girls were silent. All of them were concerned for Ron's well-being, especially Kim and Yori, but they had to do what they had to do.

Jen popped her knuckles. "So, I guess we have no choice here, huh Kim?"

Kim's eyes narrowed. "He would do the same for me." She followed with an exasperated sigh. "Damn it, this is like the Val thing all over again."

Yori agreed. "He has already done so for me. It is time I repay the favor."

Kim was a bit tense. Hitting Ron was the last thing she wanted to do, but it was for the better… she hoped.

"Come!" Ron yelled. "Let's fight!"

Being Ron's girlfriend, Kim was the first one to start the attack, lunging at him with a fist, but he simply pushed it away. Kim came back with another punch near his belly, and he pushed it aside with the same hand.

Ron laughed. "I didn't say it was going to be easy."

Kim growled, trying to punch in various places. Shoulder, face, gut, chest, but Ron blocked all of them out with just his left hand. Finally, Kim faked a punch but went in for a sweep, but Ron somehow grabbed her foot and quickly pulled it upward, forcing Kim's body to flip twice in mid-air before landing on her face.

"Pity. You lack focus and thought, Kim."

Jen decided to head in, using an airborne kick as her first attack, and Ron was quick to block it with his left hand. But Jen anticipated this, immediately following with a swift kick that would actually strike the back of Ron's head. Unfortunately for her, he easily dodged it by lowering his head, and he also managed to grab her foot with his right hand. He quickly threw her against one of the windows with her own momentum, cracking it.

Ron kept smiling as he turned his head to Yori. "Well, babe, it's just the two of us. Didn't you want it to be this way?"

Yori didn't answer. She just bowed instead. She didn't care that her leg was still healing; she was going to do whatever she needed to do to save Stoppable-san again, even if it wasn't him.

Sadly, Ron put her out of commission fast. She went in with carefully placed and timed punches and kicks, those that would often throw someone off balance, but Ron was able to pick up on them, jumping out of the way, moving aside, or slapping the fist or foot out of the way. Because it was hard to think in a fight, Yori inadvertently tried to kick him with her bad leg, and Ron was able to easily evade, but not before he thrusted his fist into Yori's knee. She held back a painful scream as she fell, and she couldn't get up. The girls were all on their knees, Yori on one.

Ron just laughed. "Come on, chicas. It's not really that difficult. Just hit me once."

He continued to smirk as Kim and Jen leapt at him simultaneously. Yori could only observe the fight, as her leg was in too much pain to be able to stand or fight effectively.

Kim and Jen appeared almost to be equally skilled. They had been trained in various martial arts styles, but obviously not of the same. Kim's style relied more on offense and defense, while Jen's consisted primarily of grace and agility, especially the way she combined moves. There was no time to think in this fight, as with most hand-to-hand duels. By the time the girls thought of something, Ron had already seen it coming and evaded it. There were a few times where he countered or reversed the blow, but they couldn't manage to hit him.

Yori gasped as the fight seemed to come to an end. Both Kim and Jen went in for a punch, and Ron went in low, forcing the girls to accidentally punch each other in the face. As they staggered, Ron performed a backflip with both of his legs spread out, striking both in the face and taking them down with him.

"Ladies, ladies…!" Ron taunted before his voice went to disgust, "You're an embarrassment to those techniques."

Kim coughed. "It's going to take more than that to take me down!"

Jen popped her neck as she got onto her knees. "Is that all you've got?"

Ron shook his head. "No. Like I said, either you take me out or you're mine for the taking. And you lose. Pity. I would have liked to take you out in person."

Ron then let out a battle cry, but much deeper and angrier than his usual high-pitched scream, and started performing a few backflips. Suddenly, he was ready to leap high in the air to perform a move that would probably knock out the girls for good.

Dive forgot that an airplane is not an ideal place for leaping high.

To the girls, it looked strange. Ron performed a few backflips, and then jumped straight into the ceiling, going down faster than he was going up. Kim was just right next to him, and she quickly took advantage of the moment to grab Ron's collar. It appeared the blow to his head weakened the mind control, but Kim wasn't going to wait at all.

"Damn!" Ron groaned. "I forgot that this was an airplane."

Kim didn't bother with talking to Dive. She wanted Ron back, and she wanted him back now.

"Sorry, baby."

Closing her eyes, she slapped him as hard as she could, knocking him unconscious.

* * *

On the other hand, in the underground base, Dive was sent hurling toward the huge MPAWV behind him. His spine collided with the foot of the Harpuia and let out a sickening crack that could be heard from anywhere inside. The impact sent his face straight into the steel floor, painting it red once he removed his lips from it. He took a moment to taste his own blood, grabbing the area of his face that now red and shaped like a small hand. 

"Boy, that brings back some memories…"

* * *

Back on the plane, Kim had laid Ron down and was checking his vitals. He seemed to be okay, but how did Dive manage to use mind control? There was nothing on him. No watch, no am bracelet, no ring, no earring (not that Ron had any piercings), nothing. He was clean. 

Jen had a feeling that this was going to go into another make out session when Ron woke up, and now she was starting to have second thoughts toward the couple. Ever since Ron was supposedly flattened, Kim had been more intimate with him. She snuggled with him more, kept an arm around him, and kissed him. Jen didn't exactly blame her, since she also had a hard time believing Ron was still alive and okay, but the French kissing was a bit much for her.

So maybe the rumor was true, that Kim was weak towards guys – including Ron. But what she didn't know was that Kim would've been just as concerned even if they weren't dating.

Jen decided to put her focus on Yori instead, helping the girl up and allowing herself to be the support.

"You okay, Yori?"

Yori had a hard time opening her lips. "Somewhat. What just happened?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to see what happens between them when Kim finds out."

Kim already had her Kimmunicator out.

"Wade… something happened to Ron. Dive took control of his mind."

Wade took a sip of his soda before he did some typing. _"You're kidding. Well, let me scan him and see if I can find anything…"_

Kim did so, scanning Ron's body with the Kimmunicator.

"_Uh oh."_

"Uh oh what?"

Comfortable and calm was the last thing Wade was. _"I'll show you the pictures…"_

Kim had a hard time making out what it was, but after adjusting the colors, she realized the pictures were of Ron's bloodstream. The pictures had focused directly on a few blood cells, but she got more worried when she noticed they weren't of the usual circular shape. They looked distorted, but even with the limited picture adjustment capabilities of the Kimmunicator, she couldn't see why.

"Wade, I need a better picture enhancement."

Wade did so without saying a word. The images were more brightened, and Kim could now see that his blood cells weren't distorted, but something was attached to each of them. It looked like some kind of mechanical device. When Kim had Wade do the others, she came to realize that it wasn't just a few blood cells that were like this. Ron's entire body was infested with…

"Nanomachines? But… how?"

"_I don't know, Kim."_

"Wade, this had nothing to do with the anti-freezing peptide that Ron and I were injected with?"

"_No, of course not! I'd warn you two if I did something like that. That's a bit low, Kim."_

"So sorry… but how do so many nanomachines get inside someone without them noticing?"

"_Usually injection or being hit by a specific laser gun… unless something released them into the air…"_

Kim took a moment to think… the grenade attack in Bay City, the syringe arrow, the knife that cut her arm, Dive's stealth camouflage, the accel stinger missiles, the fake nuke…

The fake nuke.

"Wade, do you think…"

"_Already ahead of you, Kim. It makes sense, too, using a fake nuke to release nanos. Oh man…"_

Kim sighed. "They really got us there."

"_Kim, it gets worse."_

"How?"

"_I've already hacked into one of the nanomachines on one of Ron's blood cells. It has a timer."_

"Oh no, don't tell me it's a self-destruct."

"_Sort of. From what the programming language says, within a specific time period, the nanomachines will trigger apoptosis all over Ron's body, but it seems to be focused in the brain and heart."_

Apoptosis: programmed cell suicide.

"Apoptosis? Is it actually possible to program such a thing?"

"_Yes, absolutely. It's been used as an assassination tool - a biological weapon - in some countries. But it doesn't look like there's a way to shut them off. The batteries won't die until long after the final program is executed, and if you wanted to risk it, you could do something to electrocute him and overload the nanos, but that might confuse them and force them to execute their program, or kill Ron."_

"Wade, there has to be a way."

"_If only you had something designed to suck out nanomachines from someone's bloodstream."_

"_And that's where I come in."_

Nev broke into the signal, splitting the Kimmunicator screen in two.

"Nev, this had better be the truth."

"_Believe me, it is. And before you ask, the plane was well on its way to my lab before I heard about this. I just thought you guys could use a few more weapons and equipment before taking on Elurt and the bio-mechs, but now that I know about this…"_

"_Nev, why do you have something like that in your lab?"_ Wade asked.

"_I had to remove nanomachines from my own bloodstream when the batteries died. They were used as a precautionary measure to keep myself alive at the time."_

"_Right… Sorry about the reminder."_

"_No big."_ Nev mimicked. _"I actually feel relieved telling that story. At least you guys didn't think I was some kind of freak."_

Kim scoffed. "I've experienced much weirder things, Nev. You're all right."

"_Thanks, Kim. I'll have the machine ready for Ron when you guys arrive. Just keep him steady and be careful. The nanos in his head were probably the cause of the mind control-"_

"_It was."_ Wade confirmed.

"_Well then, there's a chance Dive could control him again, but he can't do it with Ron unconscious, and he probably can't do it when Ron is feeling good. If something's bothering him, keep his mind away from it… that is, if he regains consciousness."_

"I got it. Thanks you two."

"_Peace."_ Nev signed off.

Wade wasn't done. _"I'd release a signal that would disable the nanos, but it would be too risky. The others might be programmed so that they go off when others are knocked out. We have to use the machine Nev has and suck them all out. Then we can know for sure."_

"I wish Nev stayed on. I hope it's safe."

"_Ron's no safer without it."_

"Good point."

"_Now that we know Ron's infected, you should probably scan yourself, Rufus, Jen and Yori to make sure that they weren't."_

Kim quickly scanned herself and the concerned naked mole rat, then quietly walked toward the other two and scanned them without saying a word. She went back to Ron when she was done.

"Anything?"

"_You're all clean. It's just Ron."_

"Hmm… why Ron? Wade, you don't think there's a way these things were programmed only to go into Ron?"

"_Oh, I'm pretty sure of it."_

"How?"

"_You know that blood carries a specific genetic code, right?"_

"Sure do. I didn't know you could program such things… That makes sense… but why him?"

"_I don't know, but I sure don't like where this is going."_

"Me neither."

"_I don't think this is just an ordinary destroy-the-world thing, Kim."_

"I'm getting the same vibe. Any word on the other teams?"

"_I haven't heard from them since you took off, but they have their bodies scanned before and after missions. They were all clean. But I did receive the official reports on the findings at the other three locations. The bombs in the other places had no such technology inside. They weren't even lethal explosives."_

"Four bombs… and the one in Tibet was the only one with nanos inside?"

"_Exactly."_

"And they knew we were coming… How?"

"_Whatever it is, I'll try to find out."_

"Please, Wade."

"_I'll do my best. Keep it easy until you reach Bay City."_

He signed off.

Kim sighed. "Ron…"

She held him tightly and kissed him on the lips, pushing her face against his as hard as she could. Hopefully the plane would reach its destination before the nanos went off, but in case it wasn't, she wanted to have this moment while he was alive. Perhaps Ron was unconscious, but there was no telling if he would ever wake up.

* * *

Dive could see what Kim was doing just by Ron's nerves and vitals being shown on the several monitors. Whoever thought being held and kissed warmed the blood so well? 

"Kimberly Anne Possible, world famous teen hero with no fears, so they say. Not when it comes to those she cares about, including Ron Stoppable. Fearless in combat, a strong strategic fighter, and able to effectively utilize any and all of her equipment in any given situation. Also one to use her surroundings to her advantage. Yet, she becomes weak when her loved one is in danger. Too weak. She's no hero… she's just a high school girl. I suppose she is human…"

Just then, something started vibrating in his pocket. Elurt was calling his cell phone again.

"_Dive, we have trouble."_

"Already under attack, I'm guessing."

"_Yes, and they're making quick work out of the bio-mechs! I thought you told me these things could regenerate!"_

"They can, but if they're using electronic flash grenades…"

"_Why would that make a difference?"_

"It releases a chemical that disrupts metal material. However, most of today's metal was designed not to be affected. This was because soldiers who used it indoors would sometimes be crushed by the collapsing building, as the metal structure that held it together would rust and break down almost instantly."

"_I could care less. I want to know why this weapon affects the bio-mechs!"_

"Because the chemical has been known to affect today's liquid metal, which Bradtosium is a form of, as with Hephaestus."

"_I thought you said this technology was new!"_

"The technology, yes. The chemical substances, no."

"_Damn it, Dive!"_

"Hey, if you want indestructible technology, freeze yourself for a thousand years. You know nothing of the technology that has been given to you!"

"_Oh, but you're wrong."_

"Am I?"

"_You'll see."_

"I do like surprises."

"_I won't fail to entertain. But until then, I have to make sure none of these… teenagers?"_

Dive looked onto four of the many monitors in the room he was in, seeing that the bottom floor was being stormed by teenage soldiers. Gotta love surveillance cameras.

"Surprised, Elurt?"

"_Unbelievable."_

"I'll take that as a yes."

"_I'd better go."_

"I'll make the preparations for Plan B."

"_You do that."_

Dive kept the monitors on and continued to look at the giant war machine in front of him.

"Hurry back, Kim. You're almost out of time, and the party's already started. I sure wouldn't want for someone like you to miss out."


	16. 15: Confinement

**Chapter 15: Confinement**

Again, love the reviews. But there's a few things that I need to address before the next chapter. Don't get me wrong, I respect this review, but there's some things I feel the need to address for all readers. (If you want to skip this, then scroll down to the **bold**)

Thanks to kivlov for this one:

_That's bs man she's a shootist, she may have competent hand to hand training but no way in hell she can outmanuever 2 graduated ninjas and a close combat expert flanking her simulatneously. Kim should have took her down or at least set her up, espicially once she suspected he was Ron Hero-worship awe._

The same can be said for Kim's previous experience with ninjas, and Jen's fought many as well. Just because we recognize Ron and Yori as ninjas doesn't mean they're invincible (especially Ron since he's not at gunpoint and just got kissed on the cheek). The way I look at it, none of them knew what to expect from the gunslinger, only that she was pretty fast and had the barrel of her handgun digging at Yori's skull. Any sudden move and she'd be wormfood , and that's not really something Kim and Ron want on their conscience. Now if I broke everything out into a fight and have Jen own Kim, Ron, _and _Yori, then _that _would be ridiculous._  
_

_Why doesn't he target Wade or Nev. without them they'd be crippled._

We don't know his motives at all.

_Rather lacking essential Ronness (focus using irrational deductive skills and Conspirarcy theories) except on Bueno Nacho._

Intentional. Because of his relationship with Kim, he's trying to avoid the buffoonery, but it's not so easy. If you also remember, he's prone to becoming overconfident, and I used that.

_No character bonding /empathy over non-essential/frivilous/ shared experiences or subjects at inopportune times. e.g. ron-yori remembering about bamboo trainning exercises when confronted by metal tentacles. Kim-nev discuss finer points of cuddlebunny?_ _You know moments of casual unguarded revelations without the drama, angst, comfort touchy feely stuff._

Humor in unexpected areas doesn't work with everyone.  
_  
Motives are a bit weak. Some more irrational than others and the emotional ones i just didn't feel._

Because the real motives behind everything haven't even been addressed, and won't for some time. This is one of those stories where _everything _is explained at the very end. I've got it handled.

And to address the issue people had of the previous story, Valia didn't have a real solid motive against Kim and Ron. That was _completely _intentional! Seeing that most teens don't need a solid motive to do things that harm them, Val didn't need a reason to toy with everyone's favorite couple. He just wanted to. You're lying to yourself if you haven't met someone like that.

And emotions? Experimentation in writing. I'm no novelist like a lot of the big wigs on this site.

_Drones definition of alive. If they can breathe, emotions,have relationships, make mistakes, are aware, make free will choices,have dreams and desires ,believe in something greater than themselves i think that qualifies as alive.at least more than most people. So far. _

I don't recall writing that they believe in something greater than themselves. Otherwise, good point, but they are still programmed to perform a specific duty. They still lack free will to control the purpose of their existence, but are programmed to believe otherwise, and even programmed not to reach such thoughts. That's control for ya. But like restaruant food, customers can decide what they want and don't want on your meal. Considering that Elurt's a control freak, he wouldn't want his drones to possess too much in the free-will category.

_What about legalities, beaucrats, goverments actions and consequences? What about family? no power or communication, especially how do the little people react?_

Got it handled already, but no spoilers.

_More Rufus is always good, Comments Quips Ideas etc._

Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time fitting him in this, but he will have a couple of moments.

_Wouldn't Ron's magical mystical monkey powers push those foreign nanobots (it knows nanos doesn't belong there) while healing him its been there longer and its stronger.  
_

No, not really. There's no proof that the mystical monkey genes in his blood recognize the nanos as a threat, and nanomachines are not organic, anyway.

_mind control is a 2 way trip judging from what I have read __This is a chance for Ron to Snackage some Juicy info and motives at last. its sending and recieving._

If that were the case, our heroes would have been able to figure everything out, but Dive made sure that the technique wasn't the same every time to avoid this. But in this case, it wasn't just mind control, but body control as well, specifically through the nanomachines. And if you remember, Ron didn't regain consciousness.

_goverments might not know everything thats missing weapons, but there is always someone whose unsantcioned shadowy business depends on knowing. profit and all that. use them._

In case no one caught this before, I don't write a chapter and then upload it when I'm done. I'm actually in the middle of writing Chapter 18 as I'm writing this, probably Chapter 19 by tomorrow if I throw homework aside again. I just want to get some ideas, then backtrack to make sure I don't miss anything. No spoilers, but I've got things covered already. For future reference, I don't accept suggestions that affect the plot, just those that affect accuracy and errors/plotholes. There's a difference.

_Stronger or better physical fighter is not equal to mental warrior/general. too much focus on either 1 Scientific Intelligence 2. martial Superoity 3.Darker emotions as a sign of power Raw Power is no match for strength of character. _

If our heroes and villians knew that, then there'd be no point in writing any of this. Also, too much focus? Intentional too.

So, in summarization, some of what you readers may consider character and story flaws may be done with full intention. Yes, this is darker (hence the title, duh) and not in the same direction of the series, but hey, it's fanfiction. I also write things in my head, not things designed to please everyone. For me, if that were the case, the story wouldn't be anything worth writing. This story takes place three months after the Prom, and with Kim and Ron together, things will change. So the Drama was an easy example of that: The episode was the darkest of the series, and the everything was forever changed with the ending. Take it another level and you had my previous story. Not the best, but hey, it was a start.

I do think it's logical that they change due to their relationship, for better or worse. Even though they're taking on things from a different perspective, they're still human and make mistakes. Not everyone is going to have the same thoughts toward a situation. I'm just trying to make people respond to things based on their perspective, not from an outside view.

The prime focus of the story, if it wasn't obvious already, was character emotions. Yes, it bothers them and sometimes affects their decisions. You'll see how apparent it is at the end of this chapter. If you also think Dive's overpowered by the end of this one, get over it. It's not the end.

**Chapter 15: Confinement **(again, but hey, that was a tad lengthy) On with the story!

**

* * *

**

Bay City, California.

The Imperial Outpost building is the tallest structure in the very center of the city. With a towering 105 floors representing a historical monument, it has been known to be popular for tourist attractions, field trips, and business presentations. Otherwise, it was an abandoned building. City members did not want it to be a teenage hangout, the elderly did not want it to become some kind of business location, and everyone else didn't want such a monument to be tampered with. It was also too dangerous to destroy and take down.

That was all out of the question now.

On the outside, it looked like the same abandoned building it was for the last few months.

For the last two hours, on the inside, the place was turned into a war zone. Papers flew, guns went off, blood spilled, walls had bullets in them, and pipes all over broke, releasing steam, gas, and all kinds of harmful elements into the air.

Team Snyder, Raiden Squad, and the Fox Band. Three teams from three different organizations, consisting of twelve teenagers, fighting against a thousand beings of a different race, one that should never have existed.

In a time of war, people get desperate. When people get desperate, they don't think. When people don't think, endless ramifications are born. The project to create the ultimate human weapon was among them, over thirty years ago. It would take twenty years for the technology to finally evolve. So we thought. When we believed the evolvement of technology was beginning, it was a time of another war. Again, people got desperate.

In such times, two kinds of people exist: Those who know how to handle the situation, and those who don't. The latter were the ones responsible for the project, not even involved in such circumstances, but managed to keep it quiet for a generation. They would have never guessed that a dozen teenage commandos would be in a war with their fabrications.

A lot of things were happening behind the scenes, but it was hidden rather well. Not by those in charge, not by the innocent, but those who were in the middle.

To play God, disturb the life cycle, and disrupt the natural order of life: The prime view of this project. It had been going on for much longer than anyone had known.

Now, it was time to destroy the experiment once and for all.

"That's number forty!"

"Forty? Hah, I've got seventy-eight!"

"That's nothing. I have ninety two."

"Shut the hell up, you guys. This isn't a sport!"

"You prefer us to get all depressed in battle like you? Look at the ends, Nari! You've been shot twice and we're all clean."

"Shut up! I wouldn't have been shot if you haven't gotten in my line of fire!"

"Damn it, this is no time for blaming games! I'm heading onto the next floor!"

About two hundred of the bio-mechs have been killed, and all of the teenage heroes were well on their way onto the 30th floor. At first, the teams thought that Electronic Flash Grenades was the only necessary weapon to destroy the bio-mechs. It made sense – the frequency would not only weaken them, but it would also disrupt their mechanics, destroying them. But no, that was not how it worked. The EFGs only weakened their structure, making it impossible to regenerate, heal, stand or move. They still had to be killed, and their necks were no more fragile than human necks. Every other area of their body could withstand mortal wounds, even the hearts.

The prime CPU that connected to their head took up the entire neck. Some technology wasn't perfected or made small.

So far, so good. By the time these teams were done, this would have all been over. Capture Elurt and Dive and let the authorities handle the rest, then interrogations, court, sentencing and the rest, just like they had done a hundred times before. In fact, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable wouldn't have to do a thing. The teams weren't trying to steal their glory, they weren't trying to kick Kim out of the picture, no; it was a favor they all felt the need to repay. Kim never knew it, but she had helped each and every one of them in the past. Sometimes when one of them required a diversion, usually the stuff that requires stealth infiltration and leaving without a trace, except for whatever was stolen, whether it was coincidence or fate, Possible and Stoppable were usually on the scene. While those two were always going after the bad guy or taking care of all of the guards, this would allow the hidden agent to hack into a computer or seize a stolen good without anyone noticing; A perfect diversion. Such missions could take hours to complete, and with Kim and Ron on the scene, it lasted no more than five minutes.

Yes, there were other teenagers in the field, spies, assassins, agents, heroes, vigilantes, and rebels. Some of them fought for their country, whether it was for freedom or security, some did it for the rush, only to get careless and become badly wounded. Some did it because they wanted to do the right thing, and some did it because they wanted to make a difference, no matter how big or small it was.

Like Kim, none of them did it for money. They were all paid, though, and for different reasons. They retrieved a reward for returning stolen goods, saving lives, donations, and in some cases, a bribe to keep their mouths shut about a top secret weapon. As fate would have it, such things included new computer chips, computer software, the cell phones of top leaders, a DNA sample of a serial rapist, and sometimes a greeting card chip and a laser that would cure the common cold.

But unlike Kim, they refused to live normal lives. That was the reason they got into the business in the first place. The streets would be filled with gangs and violence, sometimes corrupt laws and justice, communist leaders that treated friends like dog food, poverty and poor living conditions. Some lived the life of a child soldier and tried to get away from their lives of battle, but succumbed to nothing different. But knowing they were helping people and making the world a better place, without the fame that one Kim Possible has, it was what they needed. Their place was on the battlefield.

A cheerleader saving the world – Kim Possible had served them well, not only as a partner in the business, but also as a distraction. Some others elsewhere did live normal but double lives, refusing the fame. Some were sports jocks, some were chess captains, some were artists, experts in audio and video, card games, anime otakus – the list goes on.

And here twelve of them were, in one place. They went inside the building, locked the doors, and within seconds, guns were blazing. The bio-mechs on the early floors looked no different than innocent civilians, except armed with all sorts of weapons A to Z, and they knew how to use them.

Just when the kill reached five hundred, the wounded teen soldiers were about ready to go to the 50th floor of the building. They were almost halfway to the top, and half the bio-mechs were destroyed. But like a video game, the 50th floor had someone waiting.

The floors in the building consisted of one huge room, bathrooms and stairs aside. The elevator had already been rigged, not to anyone's surprise. The 50th floor had no more than a few couches on each side, and one in the center. There, someone appeared to be sitting down and sucking down a bottle of whiskey as he stared out the window into the sunlight that almost blinded the entire room.

All of the bio-mechs hadn't said a word in the battle, unlike their Hand counterparts, but whoever this was couldn't be a Bio-Mech. They didn't require food or drinks unless programmed to.

"So…" the figure spoke, "You're the ones crashing this party."

They all raised their weapons. Guns, knifes, swords, bow and arrow, grenade, the works.

Whoever he was, he put his bottle down and put his gas mask back on. The raspy breathing was the only noise in the room.

"So you're the traitor…" one of them quietly but grudgingly hissed.

"Bio-Mechs and four nukes… This is the end of the road for you!" another yelled.

"Dive! Prepare yourself!"

Dive just stretched all the bones in his body, unfazed. "I would be glad to accept this challenge, but I'm afraid you're not on the list. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Some of them lowered their guard and weapons with confused looks.

"Or else what?" one of the girls asked.

Dive popped his knuckles just by clenching his fists. "I thought it would be obvious at this point – leave or be forced out. I'm expecting a party of four, not twelve."

"Possible…" one realized.

"Correct," Dive confirmed. "It's a shame it's come to this, but she's the only one I need. Not you."

The other twelve were not so easily scared off by such words. They were ready to take out Dive once and for all. He appeared to have been anticipating their next move, but kept firm in his sitting position, almost appearing bored.

"So be it, then."

The ambush began.

* * *

Nev had the security cameras of the building tapped. It appeared that he was mistaken about the Bio-Mechs. He didn't anticipate the other three teams to get any more involved than they already were, but he was surprised how easy they were able to take out the Bio-Mechs. 

He came to a realization – you can program techniques and weapons knowledge, but you can't program experience and skill.

He probably did overreact when he found out the Bio-Mechs were being used in this situation. But he wondered… if these so-called brand new prototypes were so weak, how fragile was he? But no… this was not about human life; this was about a new artificial life, an experiment gone wrong and in the wrong hands. This wasn't about him.

But he still couldn't shake the sick feeling in his stomach that there was still more to this. Were these machines another diversion?

Something else was at work here. Dive and Elurt may not have been the most predictable people on the planet, but they didn't seem like the types interested in mechanical genetics.

It was clear Elurt wanted power and world domination. But Dive… he wanted Kim for some reason…

No, that couldn't have been true. If what he just heard on the plane was true, that Ron's bloodstream had been infested with nanomachines designed to kill him, perhaps they _were_ interested in genetics.

The whole mission didn't seem the same anymore. Nev kept forgetting the fact that four missing nuclear warheads were missing. His concern was more about these bio-mechs. Perhaps they weren't of the gravest danger, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they were chosen for a special reason.

Like Kim, Nev hated it when he couldn't figure something out. He may have been a cyborg, but his brain was one of the few important organs that were all human. His heart may not have been, but it was the soul of the heart, not the organ itself that mattered. Well, actually, his reproductive organs weren't affected, fortunately, but to him, the massive organ in his head was the most important thing to him right now.

And it couldn't figure out jack in the situation.

The jet the girls were on had just passed Hawaii. There wasn't much time left before the nanos would execute their program. Ron didn't have long to live, and it was Kim that Dive wanted. He didn't know why, but he got a nostalgic feeling when thinking about this mysterious assassin.

Nev couldn't help but stare at the seconds ticking on the many clocks in the room.

* * *

Back on the plane, Yori was starting to wake up. Once everything faded from black, she realized she must have dozed off. 

Yori was laying down on one of the couches, pillow and blanket ready. Jen was on the opposite one, slurping on a soda she grabbed from the soda machine in the back, too focused on a comic book to notice her Japanese friend.

Yori was a bit surprised when she put her attention to the back of the plane, where Kim and Ron still were, but both were asleep. Kim was holding Ron's head in her arms, much like a mother would hold a sick child in bed. She really was worried for him, and the sad look in her closed eyes and lips confirmed it.

It was strange. Not only did it seem that Kim never laughed often before dating Ron, but she never showed sadness either. Sure, she was petrified scared in the hangar, but this new threat really got to her. For once, she was truly scared, and it was for Ron's life. To Yori, it was strange. So many times Kim's attitude was tough, more focused on the dangers of her missions. She wasn't quite the same person she was in her normal life. Kim was known to taunt her villains and treat them like ordinary people, but with the fight against V and the Fafnir, Yori couldn't help but notice how drastically she changed. It was hard to picture a girl tossing a grenade into the barrel of a tank cannon to lead the Middleton High Cheerleaders into winning the regional championships. Sure, Ron was still clumsy, Jen's normal attitude reflected more toward her work, and Yori herself was quiet, but Kim… Something was different about her.

It was almost like she was possessed in battle.

Yori didn't think that could be it, but lately Kim had been taking several of her fights more seriously, and even though Ron never spoke out loud about it, he thought she would overdo things or was acting out of character. But then again, dealing with Elurt and Dive threatening the world with nukes and bio-mechs, she didn't have the 'feel' to deliver jokes and taunt her enemies this time around, not to mention Ron was in serious danger most of the time. First he was a target for assassination, by a grenade and a poisonous syringe, got whacked with a sniper rifle, attacked by Dive, then he was stranded with Yori in desolate snow, was beaten senseless by two of Elurt's Hands, was crushed between a steel door and a thick-armored wall, and now a ticking time bomb.

There had never been a moment in Kim's life where she worried for Ron so much. The Christmas Hunt was nothing compared to this. Not knowing where your best friend is was one thing, but knowing your boyfriend was and seeing him constantly bleeding and at death's door was another. She did have something to be concerned about.

As with the other two girls, Yori tried to understand why Ron was getting most of the damage out of all of them. Sure, she was put under mind control, was wounded by Kim, was knocked unconscious by Ron, attacked by Jen, shot out of a plane and suffered a dislocated knee, and had to watch Ron be beaten to a pulp by a giant and a psycho. Jen had a loved one attacked, was shot out of the plane and attacked by a mind-controlled Ron. The blonde probably suffered the least out of all of them. As for Kim, before all of this she got into a fight with Ron, obsessed over where he had gone off to, fought against Yori and was wounded, knocked out of the plane, almost suffered frostbite in the head, accidentally killed a small child who turned out to be anything but human, and fought a giant mech with the other two girls, and had to fight a mind-controlled Ron, again.

They all had really gone through a lot.

But Ron was obviously the prime target in all of this. What did Dive mean when he said Ron was the most powerful? He learned martial arts at an incredible rate, probably due to his encounter with Monkey Fist and obtaining Mystical Monkey Powers, but he didn't have the brains that Kim had, the speed that Yori held, or the technical knowledge Jen possessed. He was a formidable opponent, but he was still a rookie in so many areas. He was overconfident and far too reckless and careless. Was it possible that he would – down the line – become better than all of them in that category? Ron _was_ one of the very few Caucasian people Sensei taught. It was not because he was a racist in any way, but most Americans came to Japan because they wanted to see Tokyo, schoolgirls, technology, schoolgirls, technology, or live with their Japanese wife. Not Stoppable-san. It was like he said, fate brought Ron there. After all, he was able to wield the Lotus Blade, which was no task for an ordinary person, a teenager at that. The other person capable of doing such was someone who replaced his limbs with those of a monkey.

Yori knew Sensei, though. He would never allow someone with a lack of skills to wield such a powerful ancient weapon, but he allowed Ron, an outsider with no martial arts training to do so. Not only was the freckle-faced slacker able to, but he also accepted his duty. He was a bit slow on realizing it, but once he was motivated, fate was his ally.

There was probably more to Ron… something growing inside him. Maybe Dive could see this as well, but she couldn't figure out who he really was. Everyday people, no matter which side they were on, could not see such things. She couldn't figure out the man behind the mask.

That wasn't the only thing she couldn't figure out, though. She still couldn't shake the bad vibes inside of her. Was it the same bad hunch she had when they were all in the cave? No. It felt different.

Not many people knew that this was a feeling that had haunted Yori her entire life, but hid it with her calm and friendly personality. Not even Kim, Ron, and Jen – all trained in martial arts – could see past it. Ron could at times, but if he really knew, he would have been able to see past it the second he met her. There were times when the feeling meant nothing, but every other time it meant imminent danger. It was never a clear feeling, however. There was no telling what would happen, or how bad it was.

Even if Ron was cured, there was more to this mission. It wasn't the bio-mechs, not the capture of Elurt or Dive, but it was something else…

With moments like these, Yori wished she was back at the school so she could ask Sensei what her current feelings were. He had helped her tame the feeling for the last ten years, but like Ron's Mystical Monkey Powers and Tai Shing Pekk Kwar, it was something that couldn't be perfected, mastered, or completely controlled.

Wait, she didn't need to be back at the school for Sensei to help her. This entire time… he had been watching her.

She could still hear his words as if he were next to her. "Yori, do not fear the life past these walls. You are never alone, as my guidance will watch you like the stars above."

She never doubted him at all, and she believed it ever since she graduated.

No, she didn't believe it, she knew it. Now that she had Sensei in her thoughts, she could see it clearly. The cave… The cave back in Tibet was an illusion he somehow created. But was it _just_ an illusion? Unfortunately for Yori, all of the answers weren't right there in front of her, and this was Sensei's way of telling her to figure out things on her own. It was the only true way to learn. This meant one thing…

He knew something. If Yori asked a question, he would answer it only if it was something she could not figure out or if he didn't know the answer to it, but attempted to help.

This wasn't the end of the pain. More was waiting back in Bay City.

A lot of these thoughts had Yori concerned and stressed. Perhaps it would be best to do something to keep her mind off things.

"Ferno-san?"

Jen lowered her comic book, but kept her straw between her teeth. "Hey Yori. Didn't see you get up."

Yori was quite nervous in asking for things. "Do you mind if I… read one of those?"

Jen was surprised. "Uh, sure…!"

She went through her bag and tried to find something perhaps Yori would be interested in. Not too violent, probably with no sex or language…

Manga! Jen had no idea she had a few of these, but tossed one to Yori. Despite that most of Jen's comic collection consisted of the most violent twisted images people could come up with, her manga collection consisted of romantic comedies with supernatural twists.

"Try this one."

"Thank you."

Unfortunately for Yori, it took her a while to get used to the concept of reading left to right and turning the pages right to left. Yori was thinking it was probably a good idea to stay with Ron in America for a while after he got back the first time they met, but there was that solemn vow never to reveal the school and its location. This was actually her third trip… probably fourth to America. Pick up Ron, go to his house, go to Bay City, and go to Bay City again… Other than that, she was in Japan all her life. Moments like these she really wished she understood American culture more.

If she said this out loud, Jen would protest. Not because of politics, but because of people and the entertainment industry, particularly music and celebrities. For now, it was probably best that Yori know nothing of the whole goth or gangsta images teens put themselves in, especially when they lived opposite lifestyles. Nothing's worse than a poser to Jen.

* * *

"Team Snyder, respond." 

…

"No response. Raiden Squad, respond!"

…

"No response. Fox Band, please respond."

…

"Can anyone read me?"

From a communications base elsewhere in the city, a team of negotiators and advisors sit nervously, while a middle-aged man was hoping to death for some kind of answer from the teams. Suddenly, everyone could hear static. Someone was moving.

_"I'm sorry, but the teams you are looking for can no longer be reached. Please hang up and try again."_

Everyone in the room sank in grief as they recognized the voice.

"Dive!"

_"Goldman… I'm surprised you're still alive. Did they bring you out of retirement as well?"_

The 38-year old African American slammed his fist on the desk. "Why are you doing this?"

Dive chuckled. _"The reasons are mine and mine alone. Do yourself a favor and do not get further involved, old friend."_

"What do you want, then? Do you have any idea what's going to happen to you if you survive this?"

"_Absolutely. And to answer your first question, I don't want you sending _anybody_ else in here to try to stop me unless you want them scattered like your other twelve teammates. Quite frankly, I'm disappointed; able to take out half the bio-mechs, but couldn't harm me with any of the weapons they possessed. All at once, I might add. I only want three people to enter this building: Kimberly Anne Possible, Ronald Stoppable, and Jennifer Ariel Ferno."_

"Three?"

_"What? Were you listening in earlier? Yes, I did say four, but the circumstances have changed."_

"I suppose that's all you're going to tell me, isn't it… 'old friend'?"

_"You know me too well, Goldman. Give the wife and kids my regards."_

"Dive! Stop! You still have tim-"

* * *

With that, Dive destroyed all of the walkie-talkies, laying all of them on the floor and simply waving his arm from one side to another, somehow forcing the floor to break and crushing all the devices. He was sucking down another whiskey and sitting down on the same couch he was on before, not even concerned with the twelve unconscious bodies all over the place. The room as a wreck; broken furniture, walls, windows, and floors, not to mention the empty bullet shells, broken arrows and weapons, smoke and debris everywhere. 

"Still pathetic… I didn't even have to get off this couch…"

* * *

"_REDRUM! REDRUM!"_ a voice cried on the loudspeaker, scaring the bejesus out of both Yori and Jen, forcing them to fall off their couches. 

A laughing male voice clouded the loudspeaker._ "My apologies, ladies. I couldn't resist."_

Jen was fuming. "Damn it, Nev! That wasn't funny!"

Yori thought otherwise, giggling at the sudden scare and rise in the adrenaline in her blood.

_"I said I was sowwie. I figured I would randomly lighten up the mood."_

Whether Nev's timing was good or bad was arguable, but it was enough to wake Kim up as well. She looked like hell, sweating with cloudy eyes and tangled hair. She slowly got up to look out the window, but it was like someone sucked the life out of her completely.

"Nev… how long do we have left?" Even the passion left her voice.

Nev was also easily able to detect how drained Kim sounded, but decided not to make mention of it. Neither did the other two girls.

_"Ten minutes until the plane lands. Pack yourselves, ladies. This won't be a soft landing."_

"Why's that?"

_"Well… the plane will land but you'll all be forced down to my lab immediately after, bluntly speaking. That way you won't have to go through the typical hoo hah of getting off safely, checking, taxi cabs, crowds, luggage, billing, taking the road kill off the window, biddiby blah blah blah. Pardon my French. The time it takes for you guys to get from the stopped plane to my lab will be pretty short, so that way we can get Ron strapped in and get rid of those nanos."_

Kim sighed. "Great. By the way, I meant to ask this last time, is it safe?"

_"Seeing that I've been in this sucker before, completely. It's pretty painful since it requires some scary-ass needles, but this is no time for chickening out. If Ron's gained consciousness I'll have to tranq him to get on the seat."_

"He's still out."

_"It's for the better. The thing is scary as hell when you see it, and you'll want to be out knowing it's going to go into your blood."_

Nev's choice of words puzzled Kim. "You're just trying to scare us now, aren't you?"

_"Okay, I'm probably exaggerating a wee bit, but… never mind. You have to see it for yourself."_

"Nev… one more thing I forgot to mention."

_"What?"_

There was slight pause before Kim answered.

"Thanks. I really appreciate this."

Nev scoffed. _"Oh please, Kim. It's the least I can do after… After… um, after…"_

Kim was starting to tap her foot.

_"Crud, I can't think of anything. I'll just put it on a tab. Not monetary, obviously."_

Kim almost laughed, since it sounded like Nev was going to say something everyone said to her. _"It's the least I can do after you (insert something here),"_ but Nev couldn't think of much. In fact, he was the one who did things for them, not the other way around.

"Works for me," Kim softly said, starting to get some emotion back.

Suddenly, the plane started shaking violently and sirens blazing.

"No! Not again!" Kim cried.

"_Relax!"_ Nev protested, _"It's that time, now!"_

Rufus quickly secured himself in Kim's pants.

* * *

Kim opened her eyes, seeing nothing but purple and red… almost like blood. 

"What… where…?"

"Ah, you're up, Kim. Sorry about that."

Kim somersaulted off the floor and got onto her feet, almost struck in awe in the place she was now in.

Nevren's lab: A massive underground laboratory that had an eerie and nightmarish appearance. Just about everything was in dark red with bits of magenta, but this didn't look like an ordinary laboratory. The walls, the wires, the floors; everything inside looked organic, but was still obviously mechanical. It was almost like she was in the stomach of some mechanical beast from the future. What was creepy was that the floor pattern rivaled that of the human brain, as with the walls. None of the solid mechanics such as machines, computers, monitors and such had the normal appearance. They were awkwardly rounded with different shapes.

Kim noticed that the other girls were already waking up, but Ron appeared to be suspended in mid-air with a few wires supporting him.

"Nev… what's going on?"

Nev was too calm, but was wearing what appeared to be a hula outfit, the leaf skirt, a white t-shirt, with a coconut at hand. Definitely not what Kim expected in such an organic place.

"Sorry about that, but I was under the impression that everyone was wearing seat belts. So when you were landing, the rear of the plane opened up and the whole thing tilted, sending you all falling into a trap door that led here. Safety first, huh?"

Kim rubbed her head. "Indeed…"

Jen was the next one to get up, astonished to what she was seeing. "Wow, so this is your lab. I can't help but feel this was somehow inspired by the art styles of the 80s, almost like art and game designs for the original Nintendo."

Nev slouched. "Well, thanks for the spoiler, Jennifer."

Jen just winked. "You're welcome, Mr. Killbourne."

Yori had gotten up as well, giggling at the sound Nev was making, blowing bubbles in his coconut drink. She could tell he was one who liked people to guess endlessly what his inspiration was, while Jen already knew the answer up front.

Kim tried to fight it, but gave in and had to ask the question on her mind.

"Okay, the Hawaiian hula clothes… _why?"_

Oh, she just _had_ to use that tone. Worse, as she's about to learn, _never_ question Nev's style.

"Hey, while we're at it, why don't we ask why you're wearing pink underwear, Kim?" Nev retorted.

"Hey, that's private business!" Kim answered.

"Exactly!"

Kim then realized he got her with that one.

"Okay, touché, but how do you know I'm wearing pink underwear?"

"I was just using an example." Nev blinked a few times to take it in. "You're wearing pink underwear?"

Kim grabbed her face. "Never mind."

If only she could block out the laughter behind her. As for Nev, it was a good thing Ron was unconscious.

Jen decided she would be the one to break the uncomfortable silence. "Oooooookay… so why's Ron suspended in the air like that? It's almost like you've taken him prisoner."

Nev curved one of his eyebrows. "What are you talking about? The wire broke his fall."

Now that they looked at it from a different angle, Ron somehow got himself tangled in the wires. At least he didn't land on the floor, and Kim almost grossed herself out again realizing it wasn't a rock-solid floor. It had a soft quality to it. Not exactly a pleasant thought when it has the texture of a human brain.

"I suppose you need someone to catch him…" Yori concluded.

"Yep, so we can get start-"

Before Nev finished, Yori already leapt high into the air and got onto one of the huge wires, carefully taking it off and making sure Ron didn't fall. In seconds, she was back on the floor carrying him, similar to the way he carried her in Tibet; piggy-back style.

"Where to?" she asked with a grunt. Stoppable-san was much heavier than she originally thought.

"Right there."

Nev pointed to a seat that, depending on one's view of the dark arts, was either completely awesome or scary as hell. The seat itself looked like the opening of a dragon's mouth with skulls all over it, textured with a dragon's scales and a picture of death on each side. It had some kind of metal straps on the arm rests, a helmet that resembled a Metroid, teeth and everything, and to put a pin in it, eighteen syringes on the side, ready to go into the arms. Several wires surrounded the machine.

"Ew factor, Nev…" Kim weakly spoke. "Did you have to make it look like that?"

He scoffed calmly. "Who said _I_ built it? Besides, it's not like every scientist who creates life-saving machines likes that simple boxy look. You'd be surprised how many wish they had the money to make these kinds of things. That reminds me, there's a sign on my front door that prohibits children under eight in here. Obvious reasons why. Yori, our subject, please."

Yori carried Ron and carefully placed him onto the seat of the machine. She, with Kim's help, took most of Ron's clothes off so they wouldn't interfere with the operation. They even took off all of his bandages just in case. In an instant, the metal clamps strapped Ron in, the helmet went in, but the syringes didn't.

"Before we begin, ladies, this process is pretty lengthy. We're looking at an hour, and you probably don't want to watch. It'll look like he's in a lot of pain, which he probably is, but he's better off hurt than dead."

Kim took one last glance at Ron.

"Do it."

Rufus secured the zipper on Kim's pocket. He didn't want to see this.

With the press of a button, the many needles made their way into Ron's arms, shoulder, and neck, quickly but carefully. To Kim's dismay, it looked like Ron was suffering an immediate side effect, as all of his blood veins were now visible in red and blue. It wasn't a pretty sight, especially on his constantly flinching face.

"Nev…?"

"It's not permanent," he quietly responded, detecting Kim's concern.

While Yori just stared in disbelief to what Ron was going through, Jen made her way to the back, curious as to where the many wires led to. It led her to a huge and empty glass tank in the machine, but it was pretty sickening to see Ron's blood travel through the wires. She didn't realize Kim was next to her, also observing how quickly Ron's blood was going through them. They couldn't see how this whole thing worked, as blood went through the wires, but that was it.

"It only appears empty, but it's not," Nev's voice echoed from the other side.

Perplexed, Kim took out the Kimmunicator and did a magnification on the bottom of the tank. Much like the lab, it wasn't a pretty sight, probably worse. In the bottom of the tank, invisible to the human eye, were a bunch of red nanomachines, and they were coming down like flies. In seconds, hundreds went to thousands. But what was also weird was that there was some white-like substance mixed in.

"That's not what I think it is…" Kim thought out loud.

"What? That white stuff?" Jen asked.

"Yeah, it almost looks like… cholesterol."

Nev came by and kneeled down next to Kim and Jen. "That's exactly what it is. Sometimes nanomachines get stuck in there when they're in the bloodstream. No doubt if those things clogged up, Ron would have a heart atta-"

"Please spare me the depressing details, Nev…" Kim quietly hissed. It was clear she was still unsure to how this thing worked and was extremely nervous. Talking about Ron having a heart attack was the last thing she wanted to hear.

"If you let me continue," Nev countered, "If the nanos get stuck in the cholesterol and get taken out with that gunk, I've probably given him a few more years to live."

So much for what Barkin told Ron at Bueno Nacho, huh? If Kim wasn't so obviously nervous over Ron, Nev would've taunted her with a _'How's that for good news?'_ but it clearly wasn't the time. Kim not only sounded like hell, but she looked it, too. In fact, it was hard to believe this was the same girl who saved the world regularly with Ron and was a cheerleader in high school. She looked like she had gone through war, but she had cleaned herself after the battle with the MPAWV. She didn't even care with how she looked anymore.

Nev sighed. "I suppose the only way for you to get comfortable is to explain how this thing works, huh?"

Kim kept her eyes locked onto the blood tank, but barely nodded.

"Simple explanation: It actually reroutes Ron's blood flow and transfers it to this tank. The area above the tank filters out anything that's not blood, dumping it into the tank, and the blood goes back to the same place it went out. If you haven't noticed, the blood goes through the tubes at an incredible rate so they can head back into the body as quickly as possible, preventing the body from believing he's suffering from any kind of blood loss."

"I guess that makes sense." Kim was hardly paying attention.

Nev sighed, giving up. He got up and walked off, not realizing he was being followed by the other girl next to Kim. As Kim kept staring at the many nanomachines that were falling into the tank, Yori kept staring at Ron, still colored with blue and red veins all over his body. It was a sickening sight to Yori, but she couldn't help herself. She was still confused on her feelings, wondering if watching this was necessary. It was similar to a husband watching his wife deliver their first child, at least that's the way Yori looked at it.

"Stoppable-san…"

She was no less worried than Kim was.

"Ron…"

* * *

Just when one would hope time would fly, it seemed like an hour had passed with each ten minutes. Kim had sat against the glass tank of the machine the entire time, losing herself in her thoughts again. Ron was right, she was thinking too hard in this situation, but if he had known everything that was going on, he probably wouldn't blame her. 

This was truly the last thing Kim expected when they flew out of Bay City. Too much just happened at once, and just when it seemed things were about to go calm, something comes up again. But it was always Ron in danger, not Kim. She was always there to protect him from every danger, before and after Prom, but it was like she couldn't do anything to help him anymore. She couldn't prevent him from fighting against F and G and be beaten to a pulp, she couldn't prevent him from disarming the nuke, she couldn't prevent him from being crushed from the force of the explosion, and she couldn't prevent the nanomachines from going into his body or preventing them from executing their program.

Kim didn't realize until now how much she had protected Ron from everything in life until now. She was a bit concerned when they first started out in middle school, but it became second nature to her. Ron wasn't as skilled as she was and he would need her to help him. Ron falls from a building, she would save him. He was about to be shot by a missile, she'd knock him out of the way. If he was about to be hit by a mech-ninja, she'd interfere. Now that she wasn't able to save Ron from anything this entire time, the feeling got her even more depressed. If anything happened to him, she would blame herself as long as she lived. It was weird, at first Ron just tagged along wherever Kim was, like most best friends would, but he suddenly became her sidekick, inexperienced in battle, martial arts, weapons handling or anything. Looking back at things, Kim was really surprised he came this far, but was now starting to think it wasn't worth it. Not when you're nearly killed over and over and over again. She probably couldn't even live like that if she was targeted instead of Ron.

What else? What if the two hadn't been dating? Would Kim have reacted differently than she was now? Would the tedious danger Ron was put in make her realize her feelings? It was a question she couldn't answer, convinced that they were meant to get together at Prom or before then, but never after. Kim actually contradicted herself over and over on this trip. She was a little nervous on Prom night, but later was completely confident about dating Ron. Then when it came to Jen and Yori, she was concerned, not natural for someone who's so strong-headed and confident like Kim. She hardly worried about anything, except when it came to the issue of no BF. But that was just her normal life, not her missions.

She took a moment to look at her reflection in the glass tank, which was now starting to fill with blood, but not much. Even those nosebleeds that never seem to stop spit out more blood. But Kim finally realized how horrible she looked. It was hard to believe she was looking at herself. It wasn't the face of a pretty teenage red-head who saved the world and was on the honor roll at high school and led the cheerleading squad to several victories at the regionals. Kim looked like she had been through the jungles of war. It was hard to believe how different she looked when she didn't apply the makeup, the eyeliner, and spent time making sure she didn't get a zit on a date with Ron.

She knew she was weak right now, and she didn't care. If Ron went out like this, she'd put the gloves away. People said in their writing classes that everyone makes a horrible mistake in their life, and Kim was the only one in the class who hadn't done that. Sure, she lied on Halloween with the Centurion Project, but that was nothing compared to what a lot of the other kids went through.

What if this was that horrible mistake? Going through the teen hero thing and having your love killed? Was it worth the hassle?

Kim wasn't one to go to people for advice with the exception of her mom, and she was about a few hundred miles away. She would probably be more petrified of Ron's condition more than anything else. Jen wasn't good with advice, Nev and Yori were speechless, and Wade might've told her to continue her work alone if anything happened to Ron. He was supportive, but even he thought there were times when Kim and Ron met their match.

The feeling was nostalgic, reminding Kim of Valia. Things went for an immediate change when she and Ron started dating, being more concerned than ever for each other. They had finally looked at each other as more than just friends, and Valia threatened to ruin it immediately, taking the perfect opportunity to attack, when things were all fluffy and romantic between the two now, and neither of them were happier. Well, Ron was a bit depressed about it at first, afraid that Kim was going to dump him like he dumped her in the Moodulator Incident, but her only regret was that they hadn't dated sooner. Both were weakened by their new affection toward each other, just like any other new couple. Because Drakken and Shego were now in jail and probably heading to prison soon, and that every other regular player was scared off because of it, Kim and Ron thought the world was now theirs, able to spend as much alone time as they wanted to. But Val was a new unanticipated factor, striking his new opponents at the worst time imaginable. If Kim and Ron hadn't gotten together, they probably wouldn't have had such a hard time fighting him. But the couple managed to defeat him and still lived on. Only in time would things return to normal on missions, but the two would still be dating. No more sidekicks or leaders, it was an equal partnership (at least that's what the two tried to convince themselves), and they were fighting at their full capacity. No more of their emotions weakening them, and they hoped it would remain that way.

Now Dive, whoever he was, did so much more and put Kim in a bind. She wasn't sure what his real motives were, but she realized that all of this may have been a way to separate the team.

No, Dive had her right where any and every villain wanted her. Weak, worried, depressed, and unable to think straight. But why?

Kim didn't care. The only thing that mattered now was Ron. Oh sure, that was typical since they were dating, but not anymore. Kim couldn't say a long time ago that she really, really, felt love toward him. The dating was something she knew was going to happen, but didn't have that true love forever feel.

Now her feelings changed; she wanted to protect Ron for the rest of her life once this was over. This wasn't best friends or mere dating anymore. This was the real deal, feelings Kim thought only existed through romance novels or through the imaginations of her peers.

Ron wasn't just a boyfriend anymore; he was her life partner… her… soul mate.

Soul mate? Kim didn't think of it as anything dramatic.

"Kim?"

She couldn't move. Her entire body was numb. Saliva almost came out of her mouth as she talked.

"What…?"

Jen was kneeling next to her.

"He's done. Congratulations, Ron is completely nano-free."

"I can't move…" Kim realized. There was an uncomfortable feeling all over her body as she tried to move it.

"That's phase one done, at least…"

Kim was fazed. "What? I thought you said he was done…"

Jen shook her head. "Sorry if I gave off that impression. The blood cleaning is done, but his body needs to recover from everything, and right now this huge machine is scanning his body for leftovers. He won't wake up for some time, either."

"How does he look…?"

"Back to normal."

Kim let out a weak sigh. "Great…"

Unfortunately, she still wasn't convinced everything was okay, at least not until she was in his arms once more. She wasn't all there, either. Jen's voice was actually echoing the entire time, and everything was a blur. Kim told Ron so many times not to think too much about anything, and she did just that.

"He'll be okay…" Jen whispered calmly, as if sensing Kim's stress.

As emotionless as she came off to some, she could easily see why Kim was so depressed, sharing her worry.

Kim wasn't exactly the most emotional person out there, usually hiding it in the face of danger so she wouldn't appear weak to her enemies, not that it was necessary to be emotional in such situations anyway, and it later took over her entire self. To Kim, if there was no need to be dramatic in the face of danger, there was no need for it in safety, either. But sometimes it takes extremely harsh conditions for people to see things they never knew existed in themselves. Realizing her feelings for Ron was one thing, but now she thought of him as her soul mate. It wasn't like the thought hadn't crossed her mind before, but now she knew it. Nothing could change her mind now.

Jen could read her like an open book. In Jen's mind, she honestly wasn't sure that true love existed. But Kim believed it, and since Kim has been in the field much longer, it was enough to convince her. She could only imagine how Kim was like in person before she started dating Ron. It would be strange to watch. She just hoped she didn't have to see the two French kiss again.

Jen then snapped her fingers as if remembering something. "Oh, by the way…"

"Hmm?"

"I also came over here to tell you that you might want to take off your _snow survival gear_. It's about 105 degrees in here."

Kim couldn't believe it. Now that she looked at Jen, she was wearing her usual mission gear, the black tank top with cargo shorts. Her vision was still a bit blurry, but much better than before. She had no idea she was still wearing her snow gear.

Kim groaned. "That explains a few things…"

Was it the heat that made her feel this way? Didn't matter anymore. Well, she wasn't surprised she had such a headache and felt dehydrated, but now she was able to move her body, although feeling a little shaky. Jen volunteered herself to be Kim's support, helping her up.

"Come on, I don't think Ron wants to wake up knowing you feel horrible from the heat and haven't had anything to drink in a long time."

A smile made its way to Kim's face. "You're right… I don't want to scare him like I did at the hangar…"

* * *

Back in another area of Nev's lab, he had prepared dinner for the girls to eat. Just when they were all getting used to military rations, they were served with spaghetti and meatballs, bread sticks, fajitas, macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob and cheesecake. 

As expected, everyone froze when they saw how quickly Jen finished everything, quickly placing her eyes on everyone else's meal.

"You guys going to eat that?"

Kim and Yori held their plates protectively.

Meanwhile, as the girls ate, Nev, no longer wearing his Hawaiian wear, went to inspect Ron. He figured a huge meal would be a good way to take everyone's attention from him.

Keeping a close eye on everyone, he carefully opened a small door in the machine, revealing a monitor and a keyboard. He typed in a username and a password, unveiling a lot of technical information about the procedure Ron was going through, as well as detailed schematics on his current status.

_Nanomachines detected: 1226359543  
Nanomachines removed: 1226359543  
Heart Rate: Normal  
Breathing/ Oxygen: Normal  
Brain Activity: Normal  
Skeletal Structure: Normal  
Nanomachine details:…_

The rest of the information was written entirely in computer language, where Nev was an expert in. He took his time reading what each of the nanos was programmed to do. He drew himself a startling conclusion, and he was more startled to suddenly find all three girls behind him.

"WHAH! What are you, spies or something? Don't answer that."

"Well, I was going to say thanks for the meal," Kim started, "But it looks like you're busy with something already."

"I was going to say I wanted seconds," Jen said with her fork at hand. "But like Kim said, it looks like you're keeping something from us."

"Secrets are not very nice…" Yori said skeptically. "So what is it that you are looking at?"

Nev wiped a sweat from his forehead. "Just checking Ron's vitals and seeing what the nanomachines were programmed for."

Kim clearly remembered. "Didn't you say apoptosis? Oh, right, it had a timer."

"Exactly. But also, check this: The nanomachines were programmed to seek out blood cells that had codes similar to a monkey, that's why he alone was affected. But about that timer, take a wild guess as to how long Ron had left?"

The girls were silent, thinking.

"Three minutes."

"Three minutes?" they all asked in unison. Kim didn't even bother with the jinx joke.

"You can see for yourself."

Nev pointed at four digits on the screen, reading "1600." Kim looked at her watch, reading "3:57 PM"

"Wow…. So what now?"

"We wait, but you can wait knowing he's no longer infested with all of these."

All four of them surrounded Ron to see how he was doing. He looked much better without the needles all over his body, the helmet on his head, and the metal straps on his arms. His skin complexion was back to normal, but the only thing ruining the sight was Ron's drooling. But Yori realizing something.

"Is it me, or do none of Stoppable-san's battle wounds appear?"

Now that they thought about it, Ron no longer had any cuts or bruises on his body. He really did look like he was back to normal.

And he was scratching his ear.

He was awake.

"RON!"

Kim practically crashed into him, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tightly. Rufus came out of her pocket and also hugged him.

"Ugh… did I miss something?" he weakly asked after Kim knocked the air out of him.

Kim smiled. "Oh yeah, a _lot."_

It was a bizarre sight for Nev and Jen to see Kim crumple up into a ball in Ron's lap and hug him tightly. This _was_ Kim Possible, right?

Nev scanned her anyway. Positive ID. Yori didn't even watch, looking away at the floor.

Ron wanted to get up, but Kim kept her grip firm. He wound up having to get up having to carry Kim in his arms. It was clear that's what Kim was up to. Snap a picture and Kim would love it, but no one in the room had a camera.

"So… uh, what's going on? Where are we?"

Nev took a step forward. "Long story short, the fake nuke released nanomachines programmed to flow into your bloodstream and destroy you from inside. It allowed for mind control from Dive, but the girls made sure it didn't last. Also, you came here to my lab to get them removed. And voila, they're removed and Kim couldn't be any happier."

Ron looked down. "You were really that worried, KP?"

Kim shook her head with her eyes closed and with a huge smile. Jen noticed how different Kim looked before she cleaned her face to eat. It was a drastic change.

Ron finally let go of her and looked into her eyes. The happiness written all over her face almost scared him, and when he felt scared like this, he knew exactly what to expect.

Nev and Jen were treated to quite a show, but just as Jen feared, Kim pressed her lips – if not her entire body - against Ron's, but used her tongue. It was disturbing to know the enemy used Ron to French kiss her, but at least it was Ron. While it wasn't perfect, Kim decided to fix that this time.

Unfortunately, it was too much… for Yori.

While Kim was busy with Ron, Jen noticed that Yori scoffed in disgust and was hiding her eyes with her arms, but it didn't prevent the tears from coming through.

"Yori?"

So much for hiding everything. She didn't want anyone to see this, so without thought, she started running. Before Jen could pursue her, Yori leapt into the air and disappeared. She left no traces.

"Shit…"

Nev was speechless, and by this time Kim removed her lips from Ron with a cool smile.

"Nice one, Kim…" Jen spoke in a bitter tone.

Ron could tell what Jen was talking about. "Where's Yori?"

"Gone," Nev confirmed. "Looks like she didn't like the show you put on for her."

"Oh no…" Ron quietly spoke with regret. "I was afraid this was going to happen."

Despite that Ron slammed his fist repeatedly into the arm rest of the machine, Kim didn't seem too concerned. She was too happy to care.

"She'll be fine."

A line Ron heard time and time again, and hated every single word of it.

Jen's jaw almost hit the floor. "'She'll be fine?' _She'll be fine?_ Jesus, Kim, what the hell is wrong with you? She just got her heart broken by watching you spit swap all over Ron!"

Kim was confused. "What?"

Jen snorted in disgust. "Maybe I was wrong about you…"

Before Kim could respond, Ron did, removing Kim's arms from him.

"You know, KP, when it comes to BF's and such, sometimes you can be really inconsiderate and selfish towards others. I mean, that would be fine if we were alone, but we're not here to put on a show, especially when it comes to Yori!"

"But…"

"I'm not done." Ron snapped. "You know as much as I do how much she's been trying not to let her feelings for me interfere with anything! This whole time I've been trying not to get too intimate because I don't want her feelings to get hurt! She might not be my girlfriend, but she's still a friend! And we've already discussed this before, KP, that I am totally against this whole PDA thing! I didn't like it when you blew me off when you were dating Walter and Erik and crushed on Mankey, but I wasn't going to do the same thing with any of my friends!"

"But Ron…"

He didn't let her continue. "Now look what's happened! Now Yori's taken herself off the team! That's _just_ what we need, Kim. We gotta still save the world and we're one member less! You didn't like it for one bit when Yori and I traveled the world looking for Sensei, and when she chooses to help us in all of this, you show her how appreciative you are by forcing her to watch something you know she doesn't want to see? Way to go, Kim. Like I said, you can really be inconsiderate or selfish sometimes…"

With that, Ron quickly turned his attention to Nev and Jen.

"You got our weapons ready?"

Nev had a hard time responding. "Yeah, it's in the armory, to the left corridor…"

"Jen, you coming?"

Jen nodded, no less irritated than he was.

Kim just stood quietly in shock. What the hell just happened? She had been worried dead sick about Ron for the last few hours and he wakes up all pissed off about Yori. She had gotten through so much stress over Ron, and he verbally slaps her in the face when he wakes up. The fact that he wasn't under mind control also hardened the blow. For some reason, nothing made sense anymore.

Her name was Kim Possible, and she was the weakest human being on earth right now.

She fell onto her knees and burst into tears. Her mind had just completely snapped, unable to grasp anything.

* * *

In the hallway to the left corridor, Ron, Nev and Jen walked quietly. Ron appeared to be bitter, but hiding his concern for both Kim and Yori. Why was Kim so inconsiderate in relationships? And poor Yori. He knew this was going to happen, but he just hoped he could prevent it. Now she was gone, probably hiding somewhere in the city and crying herself. Ron had no idea Dive used him to deliver the couple's first French kiss, and Kim got an idea from it. But why couldn't she wait? And why the hell did she have to say "She'll be okay"? It was that type of behavior that got Ron depressed whenever Kim liked a guy, and he was hoping the habit would die with him. 

Jen had the exact same feelings Ron did. "She'll be okay"? Obviously not with someone who's still having a hard time accepting the fact that the one she cares for is taken. Kissing just rubbed it in, whether or not Kim intended it. She was having her doubts about the couple again. What were they worth if they were putting on a show for everyone? Honestly, as cute as they can be, now was not the time. Unfortunately, like every other couple, Jen didn't care. Whoop-dee-frikken-doo. It's probably cute at first, but couples don't exist for the sole purpose of forcing everyone to watch. It's called privacy and people should use it.

Nev on the other hand was extremely uncomfortable. He hoped he didn't have to watch anything like that again, but hopefully this wouldn't distract everyone from the real problem at hand.

* * *

Dive appeared to be meditating in the same place he had been for the last few hours. 

His eyes suddenly burst wide open just now, forcing him to stop.

"So it's finally happened." There was almost a hint of remorse in his voice.

He picked up his cell phone.

"Hey old man. I'm going out."

"_What? Are you kidding me? At this time?"_

"They won't come after you as long as they think I'm in here."

"_But-"_

Dive hung up the phone, turned it off, opened up a window and dove straight out of it.

"Yori…"


	17. 16: Persecution

**Chapter 16: Persecution**

_Wow, I didn't expect the last chapter to have the impact it did, but it was **exactly **the reaction I was going for when it came to picking sides (you guys are good). Well, you can all relax. The story is dark, but there are no bad endings with me!_

_I'll answer a question in the latest review to my previous story, via cman1p2__, in case anyone else got the same thought: I actually _have _had thoughts about animating both the previous story and this, since it's hard to write action sequences when you have the shots in your head. Sadly, I don't have the time (or the VAs except Nev and Val), now that I'm back in college and all. I've been itching to draw the characters in this story too, in an original style just so you can see what I imagine them to be, and upload it to my DeviantArt account. Same name, SestrenNK. _

_But I might do that (the drawing) when I finish. So far we're looking at 23 chapters including a needed Epilogue, even though I'm still on 19. You know what's fun? Figuring out the ending first, then trying to make a beginning and do the bridge.  
_

_And huzzah! The story has finally made it into The 100,000 Club! Steal a chicken and tell your folks._

_Will Kim and Ron get back together? Will Dive take this moment to destroy them? Will we find out who he is? What about Yori?_

_Read on and find out. _

**

* * *

**

The pain in Kim's head was too much for her. She was dead worried about him for the last few hours, fearing for once in her life that he may actually die, and Ron woke up yelling at her. What a way to surprise your worried-to-death girlfriend, but Kim also didn't see what the huge deal was. Yes, Yori also liked Ron, but he was taken and she should've been able to accept that, right? Why couldn't she? If she couldn't, why did she choose to come along?

Could Ron have been right?

She had become so weak in the last few hours, feeling critically low self-esteem for once in her life, and Ron practically shoved her further into the ground. She couldn't protect him. She couldn't help him. She couldn't save him. Now it was her affection for him that drove Yori away.

And it was just when she considered that Ron might have been her true soul mate. It felt like a terrible rejection, and she was soaking the floor with her tears, laying down as if all the strength was driven from her body. Why? Kim had been burnt before, and she took it pretty well then. Even when Erik betrayed her, she felt a bit depressed but she didn't cry at all. She didn't cry when Walter broke up with her, nor when she and Josh decided not to go steady.

But Ron… this wasn't a mind control scheme, and this wasn't a finger-pointing battle of who screwed up the mission. But those words Ron chose kept eating at her mind.

Inconsiderate.

Selfish.

She felt like the weakest person on earth, and she was probably right. How… why did it come to this? She now knew that Ron was the one, _the_ one, and everything became even more clear. Was it such a crime to become overly worried? Was it a crime to figure out someone was your soul mate, despite what some dumb book in high school said?

She didn't know why she was crying so much, but she couldn't cease the need to. Kim had a problem with letting out her real feelings most of her life, especially when she started her hero duties, and the last time she felt this confused was back in the days of the Moodulator Incident, but that was so much different. She wasn't confused this time, she was hurt.

But she wasn't alone, and her mind was far from realizing it. She couldn't think straight, but she just had to let it all out.

Just let it all out, Kim. You have feelings, too.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yori was leaning against a small tower on the roof of a low building. 

"I am so stupid… so stupid!"

She couldn't believe she let her feelings get to her like that and actually cry in front of the others, but that wasn't the prime reason she was upset. She realized that this entire time she was weak in front of everyone, and felt a huge load of self-disappointment. Sensei would have been disappointed.

Unlike the others, she didn't blame Kim. She blamed herself. Why couldn't she let go of her feelings for him? Why did she force herself to watch? Why did she make such a promise to Ron? She felt guilty for everything, and like Kim, she felt like she hit a new low, being much weaker than ever before. She should've known that Kim would've reacted the way she did, and she didn't blame her one bit.

But Yori had no one to go to these days. Sure, school was one thing, but either the boys would hit on her with obvious intentions that were anything but pure, or were too scared to talk to her once they realized how powerful she was. She wanted to see Ron again, and despite her unwillingness to be captured, she was able to. But he was taken. Why didn't she leave when she found out? Most of the couples she knew in Japan, which weren't a lot because she spent most of her life at the school, didn't last long at all. But she knew much better with Kim and Ron. But she couldn't shake off the hope that one day she would be his, at least until now. There was no one else for her.

Now she was truly alone. She couldn't keep the promise to Ron, but she couldn't help but fear for his life. She couldn't take it anymore, though. It was too much to see him and Kim make out, and using their tongue was too much to watch.

They really were made for each other, and nothing can change that. Not even themselves.

Yori just sulked as she sat against the small tower, and she actually did a good job of destroying things out of her own self-disappointment.

"Hey…"

She quickly wiped her tears.

"Stoppable-san? Wh-"

She almost went pale. That wasn't Stoppable-san in front of her.

"YOU!"

She immediately got into a fighting stance.

It was Dive, completely unfazed by Yori's reaction.

"Relax, Yori. I'm not here to fight."

Yori didn't buy it. To assure her, he quietly removed his mask and what appeared to be a blonde wig, ceasing the raspy breathing. Once she realized who it was, she dropped her stance and her jaw.

"It… can't be…"

He calmly approached her. "So, it appears you've started to remember everything now. Well, it's been a while, hasn't it, my old comrade? Forgive me for saying this, but… you've grown more beautiful than I last remem-"

"SHUT UP!" she barked. "You… You're the one behind all of this! Now it makes sense! You did all of this because you knew it would come to this! Why? WHY? You knew how I felt… How could you? Why did you?"

Yori was obviously infuriated, and oddly enough, her accent wasn't apparent.

"Why did you get me involved in all of this? Do you _like_ to see me suffer? Why couldn't you just leave me alone? Why did you choose me to be your puppet? Why?"

Without hesitation, Yori walked up to him to slap him straight in the face, but Dive was easily able to grab her wrist and send it down, twisting it and putting her in a bind.

"Don't try anything funny, unless you want another limb of yours dislocated. You won't be able to help them at all."

But Dive wasn't just doing that. He carefully placed one of legs between hers, his available hand on a pressure point, and his other leg in front of hers. She couldn't move unless she wanted to taste concrete.

But she was able to still talk. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, I figured we could have a talk. After all, I did see the way you ran out of Killbourne's lab. You could use some advice or help."

"I do not need help from the likes of you!" she snapped.

"So are you going to aid them in the final battle with your current condition? This isn't like you at all, Yori. Even though it's been nearly ten years, the Yori I remember was headstrong and fearless and determined in any situation. You were never this weak, but I suppose that's the flaw of the human heart. You were trained to fight and trained to reach an enlightened state of mind, not fall in love with an everyday guy who's already taken."

Yori grunted. "I realize that now, and you are right. I was weak. But now I see everything clearly. I cannot change anything, and it is no longer my desire to do so. I will move on, I will continue to fight, and even if my future does not lie within him, it is not the end."

Dive seemed impressed. "Good girl, now that's the Yori I remember. So what's it going to be once this is all over?"

"First of all, I'm going to go back. I still have a promise to fulfill. He is still a friend. Second, I'm going to stop you."

Dive chuckled. "You're probably the only one capable of doing so."

"So… old friend… why are you doing all of this?"

"You'll be ready to know in time. You wouldn't understand if I told you. Besides, what makes you think I'm going to tell you everything? So you can run back to the team and tell them? They're better off without you."

Yori smiled. "That is where you are wrong. I only asked to hear your answer. Now that you are so close, I can see everything in your mind…"

Dive released Yori, only to be immediately attacked by her. A swift left mixed with a somersault kick. He was able to avoid it like a ghost.

"Ah, yes. I forgot, the reason you scared off so many boys in the school, except for two people. At least you haven't forgotten how to use it."

Yori just stared at him as he put his gas mask back on. The raspy breathing was the only sound on the roof now.

"Clairvoyants aren't usually as pretty as you are. No wonder you ran away… you didn't want Stoppable to find out about it, fearing his reaction. They're bound to find out later, Yori. There's no such thing as a secret that can be hidden forever. You know this as well as I."

Yori kept her eyes glued on him.

"But only the weak-minded would be afraid of a girl who was able to predict the deaths of her parents, as well as those she cares about. Perhaps running away from your little team wasn't a good idea after all… Consider this a warning…"

Her mind went back to the team, and she saw a disturbing image of everyone, along with a sick feeling of nostalgia.

"No… I must tell them!"

Without any thought toward the enemy, Yori shoved him aside and sprinted toward the edge of the roof, ready to dive off, only to fall fat on her face. She was completely unconscious.

Dive slowly walked to her, put two of his fingers on her neck to check her pulse, and then pulled a needle out of her neck. It appeared to have some kind of substance inside.

"Sorry… but I can't let you interfere right now… Believe me; it's for your own good…"

* * *

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

…

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

…

Something was wrong. Wade had gone to voicemail a lot, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

Fortunately, he soon got an answer, but it wasn't the face he was expecting.

"Rufus?"

"_Kim!"_ the naked mole rat squealed.

Wade had programmed the Kimmunicator to detect Kim's vitals, but something wasn't right. Other than her being unconscious, there was a dangerous amount of brain activity going on.

"Where's everyone else?"

Rufus pointed down the hallway of Nev's lab.

"Oh boy."

* * *

In the armory of the lab, Nev was showing Ron and Jen their new weapons and how to use them. Currently he was holding a sword up to Ron, having the appearance of a kitana sword, but it had a design of a dragon on it, while a large hole went through the middle of the blade. 

"The Kitana Dragon series. Created by someone called Koshiro Hitomi, four in existence. Some practitioners of the blade have stated that it's powerful enough to break the floor and anything in its path. Not sure how that's done, but I figure it could be of some use."

Ron took the sword and observed it. He wasn't one to take a close look at weapons, but he got a strange vibe out of this one. He placed it on his back shortly afterward.

"Cool…"

Suddenly, sirens went blazing inside Nev's lab.

"_Warning. Intruder Alert in the Prime Area."_

"The hell?"

He quickly darted out of the armory and back toward the main hall. Jen and Ron followed. Back in the main lab, they all found Kim unconscious on the floor with Rufus yelling. Nev quickly figured it out – Wade hacked into the security systems and set them off to get their attention.

Ron pushed everyone aside when he saw Kim's face on the floor. "Kim? Kim!"

She wasn't responding, but her face looked like hell from all the tears. He quickly checked her pulse, which was good, and she was breathing. Jen went from bitter to concerned. She didn't hate Kim, but sometimes when she thought people acted dense it got to her bad side.

Wade suddenly appeared on the monitors all over the place.

"_Ron, what happened?"_

"I don't know… we just kind of left her here after Yori ran off!"

Jen decided to fill Wade in. "Long story short, Kim was a little too happy to see Ron wake up and put on quite a show, far too much for Yori to handle. We weren't really too happy with her, but she couldn't have suffered this kind of reaction, right?"

Wade shook his head. _"Unless there was something else at work… There are rare cases where people's mind snap due to various circumstances. Heat, stress, sometimes painkillers… I'm getting something in her head, but it can't be head trauma because she doesn't appear to be hurt."_

Ron carefully inspected Kim's head. Other than the dried tears on her face, she looked pretty normal.

"No, she didn't fall flat on her face, I think…"

"_Jen, was anything bothering her?"_

"Oh, totally. She was worried dead sick over Ron the whole trip, and probably before. You could tell that she thought she was going to lose him, and she finally dropped the mood when she saw Ron open his eyes."

"_It's not like Kim to stress out, but there are some rare cases with Ron. Then again, I don't blame her considering Ron had nanos in his body that were programmed to spread apoptosis all over his body."_

Ron wasn't good with the big words. "Adpoptartsis?"

"_No, apoptosis. It's programmed cell suicide, used to destroy people from the inside, a rare but powerful biological weapon."_

Jen took a moment to think on the events. "You know, Kim has been pretty stressed this entire trip. When Ron injured himself when he battled the Hands, she was worried. When he tried to disarm the nuke, she was worried. When he was almost crushed to death after the bomb went off, she was ballistic. I suppose the nanos just kept the stress going, not to mention having to fight him again." It hit her how Kim really must've felt. "Ooooooh boy…"

Ron gave Jen a confused look. "She what?"

"Dive took over your mind and forced us to fight you."

"Oh…"

Jen sighed. "Geez. Now I feel bad for her, but I'm still kind of worried about Yori, too. She has gone through a lot, hasn't she? Dammit, I jump to conclusions too easily!"

Nev picked up the Kimmunicator from Rufus. "Wade, you said you detected head trauma?"

"_Well, her vitals are showing that kind of information, but can you scan her?"_

"Sure."

Nev did so, but Kim came out perfectly clean.

"It's not detecting anything. It could be just too much brain activity."

Ron sighed. "No doubt she's been thinking too hard on the entire situation. How long was I out?"

"Five hours," Jen replied.

"Five hours! No wonder! Argh! I was so focused on making sure Yori's feelings weren't hurt when I didn't even consider Kim's! I'm the biggest jerk on the planet."

Ron sighed and slammed his head into the ground. Now all the guilt was on him, and now it hit him how much he was really going through. When people just flat out tell you that you were nearly killed by a fake nuke and that a billion nanos were inside your body, it's not very convincing without all the details. Then again, he wasn't good with details, either, but when he thought about how worried Kim might have gotten, it became crystal clear.

Jen had a small confession to make. "She also didn't eat her meal. She was too focused on Ron."

Nev slapped his head. "Dehydration and stress mixed with insane heat! Well, crap. What happened to Kim's food?"

"She said I could have it," Jen replied with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, but I was starving!"

Nev almost flipped out when he heard this. Tempted to backhand Jen or grab the gun out of her holster and knock her out with it, but he was able to calm down.

"Well, with this heat and the air conditioner broken, she needs water _fast_. Jen, fetch me a few water bottles from the fridge! Now!"

Jen hated to be commanded in such a manner, but she guessed she was at fault for some of this. She quickly came back with five of them, and Ron quickly took them from her hands.

"Jen, Nev, head back to the weapons room. If Kim wakes up, we need to talk."

Before Jen could respond, Nev grabbed her collar and dragged her down the hall. He had to talk to her as well.

"_Ron, you think she'll be okay?"_

"Don't know, Wade, but I hope so."

"_I'll leave you alone for now so you can talk. Now that her mind's overloaded and knocked her unconscious, she might be back to normal, but don't take any chances just in case."_

"Thanks, buddy."

Ron found himself in an awkward situation. How would she react when she got up? Like Kim told him once, 'Never hurts to ask'. He knew it wasn't going to work.

So what he did was dump some of the water on Kim's head, and put the bottle in her mouth. He hoped it would be like the movies where Kim started drinking and started to wake up. Instead, she started choking and spat out some of the water, but she was waking up. But she caught on and emptied the bottle before opening her eyes.

"Hey, KP…" he weakly spoke. Soft, but weak.

"Ron…?"

Kim opened her eyes to find Ron in front of her, appearing perfectly healthy. She quickly grabbed him and held him tightly.

"I… well…."

Ron slowly pushed her off as he heard her sniff, giving her another water bottle.

"Don't speak, Kim. I should've considered your feelings instead of just Yori's. Maybe I'm the one who should apologize first…"

A moment of silence as he thought about what to say next.

"Some boyfriend I turned out to be… but I had no idea how stressed out you were! Why didn't you say anything?"

Kim sighed as she grabbed another bottle. "I guess I overdid it, huh?"

"Pshaw, Kim. No eating or drinking?"

Kim was speechless. She couldn't defend herself this time.

"I'm sorry. Ron… can I ask you something?"

"Uh… sure, I guess."

It sounded like something else was on Kim's mind, maybe not ready to discuss the current problem. Then again, she was unconscious just a few seconds ago.

"I have something to confess… something I've kinda kept hidden for some time."

"Uh oh…"

Kim put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Don't worry, it's nothing like that. But… when we started dating, I know I was pretty cool with it, but honestly, I thought of it as just that, dating a best friend. I knew it was bound to happen, and don't think I've thought about dumping you or anything… oh, I suck at this."

Ron chuckled. "Keep going."

Letting it all go turned things back to normal. Weird. It was kind of silly for her to bring this up first, but maybe it was more important. She was doing pretty good for still not being able to think straight.

Kim took a deep breath, as well as more water. "Ron, I guess I'm trying to say that I really saw us as just an ordinary dating couple, and honestly, I wasn't sure if it was going to last anymore than my other relationships, which you know more than anyone that they were all kinda short."

Ron sighed. "Nothing deep like you once said, huh?"

Kim's head sank. "I said it, but it was one of those 'moment' things. But now, it's different. I realized something Ron… I love you."

Ron was unfazed. "Heard it and said it endless times. What's the difference this time?"

Kim rubbed her head. "Ron… I guess I came to realize so much when I was stressed out. I mean, I was worried about you, but I had darn good reason."

"Go on."

"It wasn't only because you were constantly bleeding over and over and over on this trip, escaping death a few times, but I also felt powerless… weak. Ever since we started the hero thing, I've always been able to save you over and over. I really never thought of it than just helping out my best-friend-slash-BF, but this whole time, I wasn't able to save you from any of this. I couldn't help you when you were attacked in Bay City, when we were shot out of the plane, when you went against those two Hands, disarming the nuke, being crushed, and the nanos. I've always been able to help you, but this whole time, I wasn't able to. I just felt miserable, not being able to help you when you needed me."

"Kim…"

"Let me finish. Ron… I want to protect you… for the rest of my life."

Ron took a few steps back, tripping over his knee. "Ooookay. Um, Kim, aren't we jumping the gun with… oh dang it, what's that word, proposals?"

Kim chuckled. "Ron, it's not a proposal, but… Ron, I think this is really it."

"It?"

"True love. Fate. Destiny."

Four words Ron never thought Kim would ever say. Well, three really, two words with a two-worded phrase. But he was able to catch on.

"You're thinking soul mate, aren't you?"

Kim nodded.

"Oh, well you could've just said that."

Kim blinked. "You don't have a problem with it?"

Ron laughed. "Have a problem with it? I knew it since we got together!"

Kim's face dropped. "You did?" She sucked down the last bottle so she could hear this one.

"Yeeeeaaaaaaaah. I mean, Ron's had the hearts with a few ladies, but I'm not the kind of guy who wants to date a girl and lose them a few weeks later, despite that impression I gave off in high school. Besides, think about it, _how_ long have we known each other? A friendship like this doesn't just dissolve. I mean, it's not that hard to picture the two of us growing old together."

The thought actually made Kim feel warm inside.

"So why didn't you say anything?"

"Eh, thought I'd be jumping the gun, and you might've thought that it was silly."

"You're probably right. It wasn't until now that I really realized it." She took a moment to giggle. "Kind of like us getting together, huh? Didn't think it was possible until it happened."

"Check your name, Kim. Sometimes I still look back and wonder how we both missed it."

"You and me both."

Both quietly chuckled, and afterward, Ron helped Kim back onto her feet.

She smiled. "So, we're cool?"

"Yup… Come on, Kim. Nev's giving us weapons to take on the tower."

'_The Tower… So that's what that card was for.'_

Kim remembered about a week ago when Ron was attacked by an arrow with a syringe. There was a note attached to the weapon with those two words on it. She had completely forgotten about it, and if she did, chances were that Ron did as well.

"Wait, Ron…"

"What?"

"How are you feeling, by the way?"

Ron looked at his chest and arms, free of cuts and bruises. "Haven't felt this good in a while. Pecks are looking sharp and all…"

Kim giggled. "Ron, you have no idea how happy I am that you're back to normal now, but… can I tell you something?"

"What's stopping you?"

"Why did you snap at me earlier?"

Ron sighed. "Kim, do you have any idea how… well, when you just say 'he or she will be fine'… you really sound like you don't care."

"And you didn't want Yori to be hurt…"

"Well, yeah."

Kim put a hand on his shoulder. "Ron, listen to me. I don't say stuff like that to blow people off, and it doesn't mean I don't care. I don't say that about anyone unless I'm sure they really will be fine in the end. How do I put this… take me for instance. Yes, I was stressed out and I broke down, and maybe you didn't think I'd be okay, but I did. Sometimes… you just gotta let everything out before everything goes back to normal. But with Yori, I know she was going through the same stress, and I know she's a strong person. She just needs some alone time, too… oh who I am kidding, that was a bad example."

Ron pondered this for a second. "I think I know where you're getting at, KP. You mean you only say that because you firmly believe it, and you know that person's strong."

"Well, yeah. I know you don't like PDA, but I was really scared for you. On the roster, you're more important to me than Yori. But you did tell her we were taken, and I'm sure she was aware of the risks. I do care about everyone that's on the team, but right now Jen and Yori aren't priority number one to me. You are. But I don't blame you for being upset, I can see why you are, but don't think I didn't care about Yori's feelings, either. I did hold back a lot, Ron, but with all that's happened, there's some things even I can't fight. I don't mean to sound selfish or anything."

Ron let out a sigh as he laid back. "Wow, now I feel like the worst guy in the world."

"Believe me, you're not. I'm not perfect, either. Listen, I _know_ Yori's going to be fine, and I'm not just saying that. You really thought I could care less? Ron, I thought you knew me better than that."

Ron had an uncomfortable face, clearly in thought.

It was Kim's turn to dig inside his head. "Come on, speak to me."

Ron just scoffed at himself. "I'm just remembering the things before we started dating."

"What, syntho-ex?"

Ron looked embarrassed. "Yeah. Like that night you invited both of us to eat, and I guess I snapped and yelled into the loudspeaker. 'Cootie-alert'. Everyone thought I was just being dramatic, and we never did finish that conversation at the tree house."

Kim sighed. "The same went for back then. I mean, Ron, I did care enough to go talk to you, but… you're right about the conversation. We never did finish that." Kim chuckled a bit. "Well, the next time we were there in the tree house… we really didn't talk at all… if you remember."

The blush in her cheeks were a clear reminder.

"The night after Prom in the sunset?"

"Yeah, the view was so romantic… the clouds, the colors… But Ron…"

"I know, I know, I shouldn't keep dwelling on the past and all. I guess that stuff kind of came back to mind with all this going on."

"I'm going to tell you this again; Erik was a stupid hottie crush. Sometimes I look back and can't believe myself. But if it made me realize everything about you, well, then what's the point of pouting over it? We're together… but we're still okay, right?"

"What? Us? Yeah, I was pretty upset, but it's not something I'd question our relationship over."

"And you're not just saying that."

Ron covered his face. "No, no no no no nono nononononono no! The way I see it, if we've almost tried to kill each other in mind control and still came out on top, and we got through a fight where he made each other bleed and all, and still were together, then this is nothing."

He extended his arms to assure Kim, and she dove right in.

"I guess Bonnie was right about us. We are inseparable…" she whispered.

"Sorry, babe. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

Kim let out a muffled giggle. "See, I told you conclusion jumping wasn't always good."

"When this is over, I'll take you out somewhere to make up for this. My treat."

"Aw, Ron, that's not necessary."

"Least I can do for not looking at things through your perspective."

"Well, let's focus on our current mission first."

Kim slightly removed her head from Ron's shoulder, enough to line her eyes up with his.

"So, what now, KP?"

"We still go on. Elurt and Dive have still got to be stopped. Let's see what Bonnie and Clyde are up to over there. And be quiet. I've got a feeling about this."

Ron curved an eyebrow. "No way."

"Way."

"But before we get to that…"

"What?"

Ron planted a hard one on Kim, not making her feel any less dizzy than before, but she caught herself quickly.

"Gotta make up for my mistakes, KP."

She had to grab his shoulder for support. "Ron, what have I told you about overdoing it with apologies?"

Ron snickered. "Don't lie, KP, you enjoyed that and you know it."

"And don't you tell anyone else about it!" she threatened with a smile.

* * *

Back in the armory, Nev was putting a few missiles in Jen's backpack, almost forcing her to fall backward with each missile. 

"You're sure you can carry all of these?" he asked skeptically.

"Hey, I've got the launcher, but not the missiles."

Jen was referring to the Stinger Missile Launcher she stole from Tibet. She was pretty sure V didn't need to use it anymore.

"So what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

Nev shook his head. "Don't ask questions you know the answers to."

Jen stood quietly.

"Jen, it's not that hard to figure out. You've been thinking about us as a couple, haven't you?"

Jen had a hard time responding, and it didn't help that Nev wasn't looking at her, inspecting the clip of a machine gun.

"Was it that obvious?"

"I could sense it in your voice when you asked me to dinner that one time."

"Hey, it didn't cross my mind that time."

"Liar."

He got her on that one.

Jen chuckled to herself. "You're not without your nervous sides, too, Nev. You're the only guy I know who's too nervous to date anyone."

"As I've said before, I have my reasons."

"Yep, and that's all you've ever told anyone. But now I _know_ those reasons."

"And?"

There was a moment of silence.

"I still like you… but seeing the drama queen act the way she has this entire trip, I don't think I'm ready. I understand why she's like that, but still…"

Nev was a bit surprised to hear this. "What do you mean?"

"Well, about her… Let's just say she's not who I expected to be. Yeah, we're young and stubborn, but I read so much about her being able to take down enemies easily, utilizing her weapons in ways only a genius would, and always getting her bad guy. Almost like the perfect soldier in combat, only she's not a soldier, just a regular girl who likes everything a normal teenager would like, but is fashion-sensitive and a cheerleader… not like the last two really concern me."

"I kind of got the same impression when I first met them."

"Well, I don't mean to insult her and Ron, but with all the people I've had to work with, I haven't seen someone obsess over someone else so much. I don't know, Nev. Is _that_ what love really is?"

"You're asking the wrong guy. When I first met them, it was like one of those couples on those commercials about 'finding your partner online', extremely excited about the fact that they were dating. Then again, they had gotten together two or three days prior."

"I suppose things quickly changed once they got together, huh?"

"Perhaps. I know their affection for each other and determination to protect each other rose instantly, but that was also their new weakness. I'd say Val was a genius for striking when he did…"

"You said you knew who he was, right? Why did he attack them anyway?"

Nev dropped a pack of ammunition, picking it up immediately. "You know, he never really had a solid motive against them. I never knew whether or not he hated the two for what they had or why he wanted to pit the two against each other to fight to the death."

"Villains don't always need motives to strike, babe. Sometimes they just need the will alone. Believe me; I've fought people who wanted to kill me for no reason."

"You're probably right… Did you just call me 'babe'?"

Jen shrugged. "You call me 'booger' sometimes."

"Because you pick your nose a lot, like right now, Booger."

Nev hadn't looked at Jen the entire time, catching the girl with her finger in her nose off guard. She retaliated by sticking her tongue out at him.

He just chuckled. "Well, anyway, back on topic, when Val kidnapped Kim, he kept her in an underwater lair for a week, and during that time Ron completely snapped. Before that time, Ron had me build him a battle suit, since Kim had one and Val somehow merged the one he stole into his body."

"How do you do that?"

"Haven't a clue. But you should've seen how determined Ron was to help and protect Kim. Sure, he lost against her, cracked hard from it, and went to Japan to train himself so he could stand a chance, but…"

"But?"

"I had _never_ met someone who was so determined to protect his lady. Not even now."

Jen sighed. "Kim's no different in that department, but now she wasn't able to protect him against any of what's happened so far. I'm pretty sure that's why she cracked earlier. It's just a damn shame it weakens her beyond belief. Thankfully, she got all super-worried about him _after_ the danger was over. Had Ron been injured _during_ the fight with the Fafnir, they both would've been killed."

"I have a feeling something like that's going to happen in the final battle, whoever it's with and wherever it's at."

"You and me both. Surely that's the motive behind all of this… I'm going with them."

"Be careful, though. Weapons alone might not help you."

"Come on, Nev. I've whacked ninja mercenaries before with just a handgun."

"What about those who have been able to block out your bullets with swords?"

"I had to use a shotgun on those guys."

"Yikes. Forget I said anything."

"Besides, I've got a Stinger, EFGs, machine guns, ammo, bow and arrow, knives, and a staff. I think I can handle it."

"I hope you're right. We'd better get Kim and Ron so I can give them each of their own weapons."

"_Don't bother. We're already here."_

Nev and Jen turned to their left, seeing Kim and Ron right behind them.

Jen's face dropped. "How long have you been standing there?"

Ron had his usual cool smile. "Not long enough."

Kim had an arm on Ron's shoulder. "Pretty much. So what else is going on?"

Nev put a new ammo clip in some kind of machine gun. "We've got to complete preparations, Kim. How are you doing?"

She shared a look with Ron. "Spankin for the most part."

Nev quickly tossed something that appeared like body armor toward her, but the weight of it if knocked her off her feet as she caught it.

"What's this?"

"What it looks like. Body armor. Suit up, Kim. We've got work to do."

While Nev had prepared a huge weapons arsenal for everyone, he also created body armor suits for everyone, but he kept the one spare hidden as to avoid further conflict. The mission garb was much different than anything anyone has worn before. It wasn't as powerful as Kim and Ron's battle suits, not as thick and strong as their survival gear, but strong enough to take bullets and sharp weapons. It covered all three from head-to-toe. It was tight like a heavy exoskeleton, but they were still able to move around very freely.

Also, everyone was armed with weapons head-to-toe. Even though Kim and Ron weren't used to fighting with the most lethal weapons, Bio-mechs couldn't be killed with anything else, unless they completely destroyed the CPU inside the neck, but even that would involve slicing them open. But they were given the whole deal; A machine gun, a handgun, a bow with several arrows, various kinds of grenades, including chaff, stun, flash, frag, electronic flash, and smoke. Also included were several packs of ammo, knives and more ammo. But Ron didn't notice he had much less guns and ammo than the girls.

Instead, he got a bandana with his outfit.

So when everyone was suited up, Kim was wearing a magenta ninja-like tunic, Ron was wearing the same outfit, only his was black, and Jen had a green one.

"Dude, why the bandana?" Ron asked, trying to roll his eyes up so he could see it.

"You prefer I take it off?"

Ron found a mirror nearby, almost liking it. "Actually, no. It's cool. What's this thing on it though… the sideways eight?"

Nev almost snapped Ron's head off like a PEZ dispenser to take a look.

"'_Infinite'_? Never noticed that before. Eh, could be good luck."

He then took the other three into the deeper part of his lab via elevator. After a bumpy ride that took them up, down, north, south, east and west, they ended up in a massive empty room, reminding the others of the hangar in Tibet. Just when Nev was about to deliver some kind of dramatic opening, he noticed that Kim and Jen were redoing their hair, getting caught and stuck inside the suit. Jen chose a pigtail style, while Kim went with a ponytail.

Jen recognized the room, despite the similar textures as the rest of the place. "Let me guess, Nev, virtual reality simulation?"

He rolled his eyes. "How'd you guess?"

"Reminds me of the Danger Room in X-Men."

Self note to Nev: If you get influenced by movies, comics and video games, don't be surprised when someone else with similar interests sees it.

"Ugh, I'm so predictable."

Kim stopped him. "Wait, Nev. Virtual reality simulation?"

"You're familiar with it?"

"I've heard of it, but I didn't think it really existed. Well, I did, but I guess I never put too much thought into it. But why?"

"Simple. You and Ron haven't handled lethal weapons before. You've had your share of versatile weapons like laser lipstick, grappling hooks shaped like hairdryers, makeup radars and the like, but not weapons designed to pierce human skin, blood, bone and organs. In this situation, if you head out there with no experience with the weapons, you're going to get yourselves killed. Some people hesitate when they pull the trigger for the very first time - for several reasons I might add - and that's what makes them weak in war. Jen's the only one in here with the psychological experience to withstand it, but we can't assume you and Ron are ready for that sort of thing yet. So as a precaution, that's what this is designed for, so you can become familiar with the weapons I've given you through various exercises. Thankfully, the simulation training includes all of the weapons I've given you. However, we haven't reached that stage where everything looks photo-realistic and is able to run in real-time at the same time. But the physics engine is perfected. Every weapon will work exactly like its real-life counterpart. Vibrations, explosion range, force; everything's been recorded to act and respond realistically at the price of graphics, but it's easily forgivable."

Jen liked the idea. "Hmm... Sounds interesting."

To Ron, the concept of testing destructive weapons in VRS sounded stimulating. "Right on, right on… I think I can handle it."

"Kim?"

Kim shrugged. She was skeptical to how it was possible to program such things, but then again, she'd seen more than enough weird things on this mission.

"Sure, why not?"

"Well, have at it, then… Let the training begin!"

Nev instantly disappeared as the room changed color, all into nothing but wire frames and solid blue colors. Everyone was surprised to see that they also appeared polygonal, but not horribly. In fact, Jen and Ron were distracted by how fluidly their hands and fingers moved. Real-time slick animation over realism. But this also included their entire bodies, faces and weapons. In fact, their faces looked very much the same, but the lighting made things apparent that they were in virtual reality. Much more detailed than a prior experience in the virtual world.

"Much better than Everlot, eh, Kim?"

"I'm not much into games, but I gotta say, I'm impressed."

"_This isn't a game, Kim."_ Nev's voice hollered.

Remembering this, Kim grabbed a grenade, pulled the pin, and threw it. Once it went off in a semi-realistic manner, she went to see the dark area of the place. Oddly enough, she wasn't treated to just a burn of the blow, but there were several numbers near it. Throw distance, time from when the pin was pulled, thrown and detonated, radius of the blow, and distance of various danger ranges.

Ron grabbed a gun and fired it in front of him, or that's what he intended, at least. Instead, he shot it far to the side, and the bullet hole revealed the same stats. Real guns had different targeting than light guns in the arcades.

Seeing that she was armed with a stinger missile launcher, Jen located a moving target high above her and fired her weapon. Because the target and missile were destroyed, the stats came in front of her like writing on sunshades.

"_Not bad, huh?"_

"Not really, but I don't see the need for it, either," Kim replied.

"_I'm guessing you're comfortable with firing a gun at a moving target, then?"_

"Well… not really."

"_Looks like we're going to continue then."_

Nev activated the real training program, allowing all of them to do all sorts of exercises. Accuracy, time limits, the usual stuff. But they were pitted against moving objects, some that required to be struck several times with a specific weapon, or placed in a really hard location. While Ron and Jen treated it like a new video game, Kim was the one who was getting addicted to it. Because she was a perfectionist, she became obsessed with breaking records and getting better. What also got her adrenaline pumping was that all of the weapons were programmed to act and respond realistically. Jen was performing at her peak, since she knew how to properly aim every weapon on her. Unfortunately for Ron, he shot himself in the foot a few times, realizing that to reload, you had to manually replace the clip instead of shooting off the screen, which for Ron was pointing the gun downward. There were a few moments where he almost shot off his manhood, virtually speaking.

Even though none of them could see each other, as they were performing their own separate exercises, they could still talk to each other easily.

"So, Kim, having fun over there?"

"Shhh. I need to concentrate on this target."

Ron chuckled. "Now you know what it's like for me when I play games."

"SHHHH!"

The two blondes rolled their eyes as they heard a gunshot, along with a cheer.

"Booyah! Broke my old record by ten seconds, and with 100 accuracy!"

Nev had something to confess. _"Kim, I'd hate to break it to you, but you've redone Novice Weapons Level 1 fifteen times. Ron's on Level 8 and Jen's on Advanced Weapons Level 5. Time to move on, don't you think?"_

"Oh… Well, how do I move on?"

"_Try _not_ shooting 'Again'."_

Kim sheepishly giggled. "I knew that. I don't play VR stuff much."

Nev laughed. _"That's what _everyone_ says. And a word of advice: There's no such thing as silence in the real world. You're going to have to tolerate the noise. That's what the music is for, anyway."_

The soundtrack provided by the training was a mix of beats and jazz with obvious synchronized instruments, sometimes calm but other times fast. It somehow fit.

"Good point."

"Kiiimmm…"

Kim sighed. "I know, Ron. But I felt like saying booyah, so there!"

Jen laughed when the sound of a loud raspberry was heard.

The blonde vigilante was the first to complete all levels of the training, including stealth, execution, and stealth assassination. Ron was having a hard time with stealth, always warping back to the starting point when he was caught by virtual enemies. Just when he thought he was way ahead of Kim, she completed the stealth part of the training, but was stuck on the assassination part of it.

"Question, Nev. Does any of the military use this for their own training?"

"_Absolutely, pretty popular with the Marines. But keep in mind that because you master this doesn't mean it gives you instant experience. VR is not the same as reality, obviously, but it gives you a sense of how to use your weapons and it includes some statistics."_

"I got a question of my own!" Ron hollered. "How come I haven't seen this stuff at home?"

"_Well, one, it's expensive as hell. Two, this is a prototype version. Third, get some of those people who forget GTA isn't real and you've got a real problem on your hands. Fourth, terrorists. Unfortunately, they use this kind of program, too. And fourth, it's upgraded constantly so that it's up to date. Fifth, I don't want Uwe Boll to try to make a movie of this."_

"It's much more badical than Everlot, I'll tell you that!"

"_Heh. Well, that game is much older than this Sim, and that one had problems, if you remember. Those Diversion/ Conversion/ Aversion caps, whatever they're called, that problem was actually due to a glitch in the graphics engine. This works better, but it's less focused on the graphics department. Right now, you can't combine ultra-realistic graphics with real-time action. You'd have the rendering process, but the loading takes a week, literally. Then there's lag and frame rate. So make the graphics weaker, tone down the lighting, and use mostly simple textures, and you've got this. In fact, Wade's got something much similar, but because it doesn't require as much action as this, he's made the graphics more realistic on his end."_

"Oh, so that explains why on Mother's day it looked like he was at the beach."

"_Exactly."_

To everyone's surprise, it wasn't Nev's voice.

"_Ah, Wade. Glad to see you've dropped by. What's up?"_

"_Bad news."_

The simulation instantly turned off, returning everyone to the huge room. They were all standing in the same place they first started, and all of their weapons were still intact as if nothing happened. In fact, they never really moved from their original positions or used any of their real weapons.

"Go ahead…"

"_Well, I've gotten some word at what's been going on at the IO building, where Elurt and Dive are. It looks like the other three teams who traveled the world to disarm those fake nukes decided to go ahead and take on the Tower."_

"Exactly who are they anyway, Wade?" Kim asked.

"_Took me a while to find some results, but they're known as Team Snyder from Australia, Raiden Squad from Japan, and Fox Band from Britain."_

"Ah, no wonder."

"_You've heard of them, Kim?"_

"I heard about them in a few magazines in high school. Two guys and two girls on each team, but the girls were prone to interviews and stuff. But I thought Snyder was a rock band, Raiden was a team of LAN gamers, and Fox were sponsors for the X-Games. I suppose they used those as cover-ups, huh?"

"_They're really good."_

"So what's the bad news?"

"_Well, they took out half the bio-mechs, but they haven't been responding since reaching the 50th floor."_

"Half of them? Wow. Hack into surveillance?"

"_You know it."_

Suddenly, it appeared as if the VR Simulation began again, but instead of loading the program, a video feed was shown to everyone. Dive was sitting on a couch with an empty bottle of whiskey in his hand, at gunpoint by twelve teen commandos. There was the introduction where all of them stormed into the room and were surprised of how calm their enemy was, but there was no real exchange of information. The ambush then began. Everyone charged at the masked man all at once, and they were all sent backwards instantly, almost like a giant fan turned on and blew them backward.

"Whoa, whoa, Wade, rewind!"

Wade did so, and on the frame where things went for a sudden change, they saw an arc come from Dive, but it was impossible to determine if it was an arm, leg, or weapon, even with Wade's super-slo-mo. It was only two frames long with that. It was clear that the force of… whatever it was, sent all of them back.

Ron was impressed. "Wow, he's fast."

_"That's nothing,"_ Wade replied.

They all continued to watch as Dive continued to use fast attacks on them and defend himself. From behind, many of them tried to shoot his head, but he was able to easily evade from tilting his head left and right, or sometimes kick himself and the couch away in a different direction. Often from the front, he would simply kick anyone attacking high or low. One of the girls even ran up to him and pointed a gun to his head, but he instantly grabbed one of her other weapons and plugged the barrel, before kicking the gun straight into her face, somehow grabbing her body with his foot and throwing her across the room into a fellow teammate of hers.

After that, the battle simply turned into one where he would take his opponents weapons and use it against them, including staffs and swords, but not guns. A lot of the team members still continued to fire their assault rifles at him, which he somehow defended with two swords in each hand, slicing bullets in half. Some he actually managed to ricochet into another's gun and block the barrel or destroy the gun.

Shortly after that, he went on the offensive. Anyone that was in front of him he would kick, and anyone behind he would punch or grab. Those who were too far away would be tricked into evading a projectile weapon only to land closer, usually within grabbing distance.

What caught everyone's attention was that the punches and kicks looked very weak and were performed carelessly, but somehow had enough force to knock someone through a floor, wall, or even the ceiling. It was like a bizarre martial arts flick, but this was real. Some of the twelve would be knocked out instantly, while others had to be slammed through the walls and floor repeatedly before they were out.

Dive didn't even have to get off the couch, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"_Pitiful. Only a fool trusts his or her life to a weapon... In a duel, speed determines the winner, not slow thinking, brute force or outdated strategies."_

He didn't appear to be exhausted or fazed. He knocked all twelve of them out in a couple of minutes.

Kim came to realize something. "Is it me, or is there something about that style we've seen before…? Ron?"

Ron scratched his head. "I've seen too many styles in movies and at Yamanuchi to know. Sorry, KP."

Nev mimicked Ron, also scratching his head. "I've also got a nostalgic feeling, but I can't crack it for some reason."

Jen was clueless. "You've got me."

"Wade, was there anything else?"

_"A call."_

Wade fast-forwarded to the call between Dive and someone called Goldman. They watched as Dive took everyone's walkie-talkies using a long staff, not getting off his couch, and destroyed them simply by waving his arm, almost destroying that part of the floor. Everyone looked pretty disturbed when his demands were made clear – the team.

"Why just us…?"

"_I don't know, but I sure don't like it."_

Jen rubbed her eyes, upset that her name was mentioned. "Great, so much for keeping a low profile."

Ron just kept his eyes on the paused frame of the footage.

Kim continued. "Wade, any idea who this Goldman is?"

"_Harlem Joseph Goldman, Age 36. He's listed as a negotiator for the CIA, a former drill sergeant for the Army and former Weapons Inspector for the UN, and founder of some anti-KKK organization back in the 80s. That's all I can dig up on him, though. I have no idea how involved he is in this or what his relationship to Dive really is."_

There was also one particular word that caught Kim's attention.

"Dive… a traitor, to what?"

"_I've already tried to check, but like last time, it's not like he exists in any government computer or database. Perhaps he was one of them? It's too soon to draw conclusions."_

Kim cracked her knuckles. "Looks like we have a little bit of interrogating to do."

"_I'd try to dig up more information from the surveillance cameras, but that was the only one that was online, and now it's been taken out."_

Kim took a second to ponder this. "From the sound of his conversation with Goldman, he wanted everyone who was watching to see the fight."

"_I thought the same thing."_

"But that's it, they've only sent in twelve people? Why not send in the swat teams or even Team Impossible? I thought everyone would be all over him?"

"_Same thoughts again, but my guess is that they don't want this to be known to the general public or something. SWAT vans are good for that, unfortunately. For some reason, the city is giving into his demands, nothing more than three names. No money, nothing. Elurt hasn't even been heard from. You sure you're ready?"_

"He's good, but I don't care. This whole trip hasn't made much sense to me, and I'm going to get my answers no matter what. We'll capture Elurt as well."

Wade sighed. _"I hope you're comfortable with everything you've got to take out the bio-mechs, because it doesn't look like we have much time left. You just got a hit on your site, Kim. It's pretty obvious who it is this time."_

"Send it through."

Everyone crowded themselves in to see the footage, leaving Kim with barely room to see or breathe.

"_Kim, Kim, Kim. Where _have_ you been? I was hoping by now that you'd be up here and we'd have a conversation over what's been going on. How sad, I was hoping by your punctuality we'd have this over with. The doors are wide open, Kim. Let's finish this once and for all. And don't keep me waiting too long. Ciao."_

Everyone backed off once the feed came to an end.

"He's got something planned," Kim responded. "He wants us up there, that's certain."

"Lemme guess, we deliver?" Ron asked with his arms crossed.

Kim started walking toward the door of the armory, but checked to ensure that she was fully loaded. All weapons secure, gloves on, ammo packs were secure, along with grenades and bombs, strapped her gloves on, and to finish it off, checked her face. She popped the bones in her arms as she stretched them out, and then looked back at Ron with a smile.

"He's put us through hell and back. I think it's time we repay the favor."


	18. 17: Ascension

**Chapter 17: Ascension**

_Sorry it's been awhile, but I've got school and had a tad bit of writer's block. I should've known: Getting a Gamecube and two games can do that to you. Anyway, we're getting close to the end here. I've also been stuck on the 19th chapter, which I had to split into two, and I'll probably upload the next chapter with the rest of the story._

_UPDATE:  
Corrections made thanks to Matri. Thanks!  
A small part of the humor was rewritten for effect. That old haunting feeling.  
Disregard the comment over the rest of the story being uploaded, we've got about seven chapters left, including the Epilogue._

**

* * *

**

"And so… it truly begins…"

* * *

The doors of the first floor of the Tower burst open with a smoke bomb, muting any visibility in the entire area. Three masked soldiers armed with M4s cautiously make their way inside shortly after. Well, one of them, anyway. He comes in low, carefully inspects his environment, and keeps his gun raised the whole time. The other two walk in casually, and one pats the cautious one on the shoulder. 

"Not bad, Ron, only that we've been told that all floors have been cleared up to the 50th floor."

"Aw, c'mon, Jen, haven't you seen Cowboy Bebop?"

"Ron, since when have you watched that show?"

"Cable, KP."

"Oh, right."

"It's like that episode where Spike goes in and blows up the place and bullets start flying."

"Ah, yes, the last episode." Jen remembered. "Well, that time the first floor was filled with baddies, and as you can see, Ron, this floor is all clear."

All of them remove their masks to see the floor, but Jen was right for the most part, seeing five dead bodies that weren't human. Kim was still pretty grossed out by the concept of artificial humans, and seeing them lie lifeless on the floor didn't make things much easier. Maybe it was the fact that the police recovered Erik's body, and one of them gave Kim and Ron an up close autopsy. That was probably a week after the two graduated. Syntho Drones were gross, but Bio-Mechs were no less pretty. Ron on the other hand decided he'd take this mission with a diminished sense of reality, looking at Bio-Mechs as fragged/ killed opponents in games. That way he wouldn't be freaked out. It was a strange logic, but it was crazy enough to work. The only thing the games didn't have was the stench.

"So they managed to make a thousand, and those teams took out half of them?" Kim analyzed.

Jen shrugged her shoulders. "Nev did admit he was probably overreacting at their strength, but I don't blame him considering he knows the technology. Easy to take out by experts who know their weaknesses, but in the battlefield against our own soldiers who might not, that can be a bad thing."

Ron appeared to be perspiring. "Geez, why'd Nev give us these masks again? I didn't think it'd get so stuffy with a smoke bomb."

"Because, Ron, the sensors on them detect that if we attack anyone, that it's a Bio-Mech and not an innocent civilian. Besides, you look kinda hot in that mask."

Jen lightly rolled her eyes. "Uh, Kim, focus on the mission? We're almost at the end of this; you guys will have all the time in the world to do what you want _afterward_. But now, let's not wait."

Kim didn't appear surprised by this response. "I'm totally focused, Jen. Come on, Ron."

Was she? One of the things Jen was quick to notice was that Kim's hands were trembling as she held her gun, as was Ron. Sure, they weren't doing badly in VRS, but she just knew that the second one of them pulled their trigger for the first time, that something was bound to go wrong. But Nev assured them repeatedly that he had things handled.

* * *

"Oh, that reminds me, I forgot these." 

He tossed three guns to each of the remaining team members behind him, and they all caught it in unison with their left hand, catching the gun by the handle single-handedly. Neither Kim nor Jen looked surprised that Ron caught it just as flawlessly as they did, but Jen was the only one who studied her weapon.

"Assault Rifles? Oh, Nev, you're so sweet, you remembered my favorite weapon."

"Oh hush, you. I'm serious."

"Sowwie."

Nev covered his face, filled with embarrassment. Earlier, he was the only guy who didn't see Kim do anything wrong, and he didn't have the strength to say anything. Even though Jen apologized to Kim, she's just as much as a flirt. But that was Jen to him, not perfect.

"Aaaaanyway, before you all head out, chew some bubble gum and kick ass, I forgot an important detail about all of your weapons, in case anything goes wrong."

Ron didn't appear surprised when all eyes were on him. "I'll admit, I'm a noob!"

"Be that as it may, Ron," Jen replied, "Putting a gun in your hands might be more dangerous than Kim and me, and that's not necessarily a good thing."

"No offense, Ron, but I'm also kinda concerned with a gun in your hands, too. This isn't some right gun game."

"You mean Light Gun game, Kim."

"Whatever, you know what I mean. So what's this detail, Nev?"

"All of your weapons come with a PIU unit built in, aided by your suit."

Jen was fazed. "A Personal Identification Unit? I thought you could only do that with Marines weapons and some Russian mafia stuff."

"What can I say? You can find a lot of stuff on P2P programs these days. You just gotta know what you're looking for."

Ron grabbed one of Kim's shoulders. "Wow, a PID, huh? That's cool, but how about we give a small explanation for Kim here, huh?"

Kim rolled her eyes, but Nev saw past Ron easily.

"PIU, Ron. Basically, I've connected all of these weapons to your suit so that only you can use them when you want to use them. No one else will be able to use your own weapons against you, and you won't fire a shot from your guns unless you fully intend to. Your suits virtually connect to your body and record your brain activities to determine this. It's a fail-safe so that you guys don't accidentally pull the trigger if you don't intend to, since you and Kim did this in the VRS. Also, your enemies can't use your weapons against you."

Kim rubbed her head. "I really need Wade to teach me this stuff."

"Coolio!" Ron cried. This way he wouldn't do something stupid unless he was in danger.

"I know what you're thinking, Ron, but I'm skeptical myself. Instead, you've got less ammo than the girls do in all your guns. You're best going off with the sword as your primary weapon. Lotus Blade experience."

"I guess that explains why I'm the only one with a sword, huh?"

"Yup."

"So why not Jen and KP?"

Jen answered first. "I'm more of a guns and explosives person. Besides, I'm not a big fan of blades."

Kim followed. "Not exactly the most skilled in that area, at least in sword fights. I'd trust a sword in your hands over mine."

Everyone was surprised to hear this from Kim, but didn't make faces.

Nev continued. "But I filled your guns with some ammo just in case, but don't rely on them unless you hit a desperate situation."

Ron nodded his head. "Right on, right on. The Ron can handle swords."

Kim only hoped he could, but she was being truthful earlier.

"So, anything else before we head out?"

Nev snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, if you haven't noticed, your suits have masks hanging from the back. You don't have to put them on now, but the visors that should help due to their visual interface. For one, if you see anyone, you'll know if it's an innocent civilian or a bio-mech. Second, it'll change modes depending on the situation. Thermal, Night Vision, X-Ray, it's all in there and are usually automatically activated. But just in case you need to do it manually, tap your eye visors twice. The suit will also detect a dangerous situation, so if that comes up, just tap it once. And don't worry. Like your weapons, it'll only do it when you want it to."

Kim groaned. "So much for thinking you know where technology is going these days."

Ron had an idea. "Any kind of radar to help us?"

Nev shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, and even if I could, it'd block your vision. And don't ask if there's a muscle-relaxing feature built in, Jen."

"Darn it."

* * *

"Now that I think about it, Ron, you'd better switch to your sword." 

"Okay…" he whined.

About the time they all entered, it was already sunset, and it wasn't going to slow down for these three. They quickly made their way throughout the one-room-per-floor building, finding nothing but damaged furniture, broken windows, blood and scattered bio-mech bodies, all with their necks sparkling. Projectile weapons from knifes, ninja stars, bladed boomerangs, and bullets could be seen sticking out. Kim could've sworn a pen was used, but didn't stay to investigate.

"Good thing Wade told us about the other teams coming in first, otherwise I'd be pretty scared right now."

Even Kim had her moments.

"Yeah, nothing tells you 'someone else has been here' better than the place looking like a war zone. Kinda makes me wish I was part of the action." Jen commented.

"Okay, quick question, ladies." Ron intervened. "Where are the elevators?"

"Rigged, Ron," Kim answered. "And before you mention grappling to the top, seeing that the outside of the building is covered with gun cameras, taking the easy way is the last thing we should do. Dive's a smart one."

Jen agreed. "Honestly, I didn't think you could put twenty of those things on all four sides on each floor. They're going to have fun taking down all 8400 of those things, excluding those that are outside on opposite buildings. That must've cost'em a lot."

"That's probably why he's working with Elurt," Kim speculated. "He's got a grand fortune, perfect for this sort of thing. It'll all go toward the Red Cross once we're done with him."

The three continued their infiltration, floor after floor being filled with the same things. If anything was bothering them, it was the fact that the floors were completely silent and empty. Even Ron knew that they should have sent reinforcements to make up for the loss on the lower floors.

Floor ten…

Floor twenty…

Floor thirty…

Floor forty…

Floor fifty.

Everyone froze when they came to this floor, as it was pitch black. Putting on their masks and seeing the Night Vision activate, they all came to realize that the video feed from Wade didn't do this room justice. A small couch in the middle of the floor was the only undamaged object. Everything else was completely demolished, and it didn't help that bodies were hanging from the ceiling, from inside the walls, and almost slammed through the floors. Dismantled weapons of all kinds were on the floor, even those thought to be indestructible.

"My God…"

"Never seen a room like this, huh, Kim?"

"I still can't shake the nostalgic feeling, Jen. I'm starting to get a really bad feeling about this."

"Uh, KP, you've had a really bad feeling since Tibet."

"He's right, you know. Dive's not here, nor any of the Bio-Mechs."

Ron starting darting off toward one of the unconscious girls, and put his fingers on her neck.

"Her pulse is strong, but I don't think she's going to wake up any time soon… seeing that her face is planted completely into the floor."

"So they're still alive…" Jen took this moment to ponder the situation. "Why would someone who put you through so much hell spare these guys?"

"I don't know, but we're going to find out before this night is over."

That was Kim all right, confident until the end.

"Good to see you're back to normal, Kim." Jen complemented.

"Thanks, but remember, from here on we be extremely careful. The other 500 no doubt surround the next floors."

Everyone made their way toward the stairs and carefully moved up. Before opening the door that led to the next room and floor, Kim quietly opened it and peeked inside, quickly closing it in less than a second.

"So how's the sitch?" Jen asked with a sly look, mimicking Kim.

"There are a lot of them…"

Kim sounded shaky in her voice, and Ron was able to detect this better than Jen.

"Spill, KP."

"There's got to be at least thirty of them… and they don't have human skin."

"Elch, unfinished?"

"I don't know. They aren't like the ones we fought… they're gold."

"Gold?"

"It's like a bunch of golden metal skeletons walking around with machine guns. No eyes or skin but plenty of muscle tissue. Definitely no need to see if they're civilians."

Jen was becoming familiar with the tone in Kim's voice.

"Kim, if you need to head to a bathroom, there's one back on the previous floor, but DO NOT throw up on me."

"I think I can manage."

"You don't think on the battlefield Kim. It's do or do not, that's all. There's no think or try."

Kim didn't want to admit it, but Jen was right. She let out a loud gulp, trying to swallow anything that was going to come up, but had a disgusted look on her face.

"Yuck… Okay, I'm ready to go."

"So what's your plan, KP? Go in quietly with stealth or burst into action?"

Kim pulled out a grenade from her utility belt. "Try to toss in an EFG without alerting them to our presence, then attack when it goes off. Remember, the weak point is their neck, since that's where the CPU is."

"I know, I know."

Jen put a hand on one shoulder each. "Remember you two, these aren't humans."

Kim sighed, shrugging her shoulders with a grenade in hand. "I'll get used to it."

Jen had skeptical written all over her face. "Like getting used to holding grenades with the pin sticking out?"

Kim didn't realize that when she made her last gesture, she had one hand on the pin of the grenade and the other hand on the grenade itself. She inadvertently separated the two.

"Shoot!"

"What? Where?" Ron cried.

"Ron! I mean…-"

Jen cut Kim off, grabbing the grenade and tossing it into the room. The desperate move was enough to catch all the mechs' attention, but the bomb went off shortly after.

"Come on, you two, now!"

Jen quickly pushed Kim and Ron into the room, where a bunch of blinded Bio-Mechs were. She didn't look surprised as to what happened next.

Kim tried to go for a weapon, but had a hard time grabbing her gun, not to mention she was being blinded by the brightness the grenade let out. She tried to fire into the necks of the fallen mechs, and she succeeded, but not without hesitation. It took her some time to aim right and hit her intended target without being an inch or two off. Thankfully, the mechs didn't have vocal cords built in or faces that showed expressions, which made life much easier for Kim. Ron actually handled the situation pretty well, grabbing his sword and jabbing it into various necks, but his only problem was finding others to take down. Jen just stood by the doorway.

Kim was panting. "Whew, I think that's all of them."

Suddenly, a loud gunshot was heard, with a metallic groan behind Kim.

"Actually, you missed one," Jen smiled, while showing off her moves with a handgun, spinning it like a revolver in Western movies.

"Time out!" Ron demanded. "You were just standing there the whole time?"

"Yeah, only to see how you two would handle the situation. Did much better than I thought."

Jen did notice, however, that Kim's hands were still shaking.

"I don't think this weapon fits me," Kim confessed.

Jen's eyes were on every other weapon that Kim had on her. "Nev did give you alternatives. You know, now that I think about it, I haven't seen anyone use the bow and arrow before."

Kim grabbed it, but had an expression on her face that was anything but confident.

"Please, I haven't done archery since that course in the summer of freshman year. I mean, watch me take out this light."

Kim quickly turned around and fired an arrow without any sign of concentration. She didn't even bother to see where it went, turning back to Ron and Jen before it made contact with anything.

"See, I totally miss-"

The sound of glass cracking on the ceiling and instant darkness was enough to convince the other two. Kim let out a sheepish grin, not that anyone could see it.

"Okay, I'm gun girl, you're arrow girl, and Ron's the sword guy," Jen spoke in the darkness.

"Hey, KP, how come you never used those on missions?"

"I'm not going to kill my enemies, Ron. At least not those that are human."

"Well, we're in a war, Kim," Jen replied, "and now's no time to think. I don't mean to be rude, but now's not a place for the 'no big' or 'so not the drama' talk. If that were a frag grenade in your hand earlier, we could've died. Keep that in mind."

"First time…" was Kim's excuse. "But you're right… I can get used to this. I can do it."

Jen wasn't convinced. "I was thinking that maybe the catchphrase 'I can do anything' might've been inaccurate. I hope I'm wrong. I'll help out from here on, but I hope I don't have to clear out everything for you guys."

"Oh, you're on…" Kim hissed with an inviting tone and a slice of venom to boot.

Little did she know that Jen just used reverse psychology on her, intentionally provoking her to boost her confidence. It worked.

All three put on their masks for the night vision view, then proceeded to the next floor.

In fact, the next six floors had gone off without a hitch. It appeared that Golden Bio-Mechs were being used hereon out, and the same strategy was done, but with much better results. Kim would peek into the room to observe her surroundings, then tossed in the grenade in the center of the room. There were times where the mechs noticed them and fired their weapons before the grenade went off, but the door was bulletproof. The grenade would go off, not only affecting their skeletal structure, but their AI system and CPU temporarily. Kim, Ron and Jen would immediately go on the offensive and take them out, and Jen was glad to see that the two were getting used to their weapons fast.

But that wasn't all. Increasingly the mechs would avoid the bomb range and attack in full force, not allowing any of the three to pull the pin from another EFG and throw it. Because of this, Kim, Ron and Jen were forced to take them out before anything. To Jen's surprise, Ron would deflect several bullets from the bio-mechs' guns with his sword, unfortunately hiding behind a couch when he was done instead of going on the offensive. That's where Kim would go in, and Jen was astonished at Kim's accuracy and speed. She could fire off five arrows - one immediately after another - and each would hit her intended target, perfectly. Ron would handle things once the action died down. In fact, Jen didn't have to fire a single round sometimes, but that was because Kim and Ron often got in her line of fire. Once the show was over, all of the bodies would be stacked together, and another EFG would be thrown to ensure the CPUs didn't repair itself. Kim's mood only got worse when she noticed the Hephaestus name on them.

That was another thing Nev was inaccurate about. The Hephaestus Project wasn't being used for their skeletal structure or body parts, but rather on the CPU, clearly so it could repair itself. The EFG was ideal for preventing such a thing. In actuality, they were like zombies: Kill them, and they come back to life, at least until you take out their one weakness in a specific manner.

As they continued on, Jen was starting to get a little jealous that Kim and Ron would clear out the floors but never allowed her to take part of the action. She had grown up being in action a lot, and grew a bit tired of someone else doing it for her. That was a peeve of hers, actually; if someone else did something she was fully capable of. She didn't blame the two, of course. They had gotten used to taking care of things on their own just as much as she did. But that didn't mean she was completely void of it, as she often had to reload her gun in the middle of the fight. Twenty Bio-Mechs on a floor didn't seem like a lot in combat, not when Kim's handling one side and Ron's handling another.

Maybe it was the fact that Kim and Ron looked so much cooler with their weapons than Jen did with her gun, or maybe she wanted to take the challenge of the next floor.

Not a good idea. The mission suits Nev gave them were ideal for the situation. None of them realized it, but they had actually been hit on several areas of their bodies, except the neck and head areas. The bullet-proof areas were not only limited to the chest areas, but covered their whole bodies. Again, like their battle suits, the material used was an unheard-of metallic substance, but would allow for movement. It was tight, and at first uncomfortable, but the fit never crossed their mind in battle. The masks also consisted of this equipment, except for the visors.

They didn't realize it, but their lives depended on their luck of evading bullets. One false move and it would be the end. Well, if it weren't for the bad aim of these mechs, and that's where the EFG made things easier for the most part.

Things went for a change on the 66th floor. Now the lights were taken out, leaving a pitch black room with all the mechs in it. To the team's surprise, who were all peeking in with their night vision, the mechs didn't seem to have night vision enabled. But Kim saw the trap. Some of them had devices in their hands, and a similar device appeared on the light switch. To her, it was obvious. If they heard a noise, they would turn on the light and ambush the intruder. An EFG didn't sound like a good idea for now, since a few of the mechs were smart enough to open the door to the stairs and attack. Kim was nearly shot once on the 64th floor, and in a vital area.

Jen had an idea for this, putting something on her SOCOM; A silencer. She handled this one, shooting as many bio-mechs in the neck as she could as quickly as she could. The gun was quiet, but not the sound of a metal body falling on its face. Even though she took out eight in a second, none of the others heard her. She didn't care why this was, as it gave her the advantage. Before long, all of them were out, but at only twelve, the least number of mechs on a floor so far.

Another EFG and this floor was cleared. She just smiled at the other two, who smiled back. To Jen, this was more like it; less talk and more action.

The Bio-Mechs would be considered an almost invincible weapon if no one was aware of their self-healing technology and weakness in the neck. They could be shot everywhere else and be unaffected, but the EFG worked like chaff would for any other mechanical weapon. If chaff were affective on these, it'd make life a whole lot easier.

The rooms from hereon would be dark as well, but everyone kept their eyes peeled for anything. Floor 67 was empty, as was 68 and 69. It turned out the next ten floors were completely empty.

Floor 80 was when things changed. Instead of a huge room like every other area, it was a long and bright hallway, but it didn't look like there was an end. However, from another perspective, you could see a wall at the end. Dead end? From a third and final perspective, you could see small openings in the walls.

It didn't take everyone long to figure out this was a maze. No need for night vision here, as the walls, floor and ceiling were painted white.

They all knew this had to have been a trap, and despite Ron and Jen's almost unhealthy hatred of mazes, they kept quiet. For all they knew sound sensors would be near. They all took off their masks as they continued down the hall. It was a fork, offering only left or right.

But before they got there, a series of red beams surrounded Kim. They weren't in front of her, or behind. They were going through her, but she appeared unaffected.

She quickly figured out what it was: Infrared laser beams.

"RUN!"

But before the other two could move a muscle, the walls shifted, separating all three of them. Whatever security system was programmed into this room gave each of them a maze to deal with.

"_WARNING. UNAUTHORIZED PERSONAL LOCATED IN SECTOR EIGHT. NO ACCESS WITHOUT PROPER AUTHORIZATION."_

"Nothing like a computerized lady's voice." Ron commented. "Well, mazes are one thing, but it could be worse."

Fifteen bio-mechs leapt from the ceiling and into the maze. Five for each. The walls also started to shift quickly and randomly, giving each of them space and cutting it off just as quickly. And, as Kim found out the hard way, it would interfere with your line of fire. Shoot at an enemy, have the wall move in front of you and take the hit, only to find your enemy unharmed when they appear again.

"Okay, I'll shut up now!" Ron cried.

As the three tried to prevent from getting dizzy, this proved to be a difficult fight. Ron was actually the one to figure this one out, as his enemies stood still. He would wait for the wall to move, and dive through it before it closed. Strangely, they weren't strong enough to crush him, at least by the appearance of how thick they were, but they also seemed to be moving at a pattern. When he got close enough, he noticed the bio-mechs on his end were armed with swords instead of machine guns, and they looked like they knew how to wield them. It was intimidating at first, but there was one problem that gave Ron the edge; speed. He was able to take them out much more quickly than he anticipated. However, the room did not stop moving.

Jen was having a hard time shooting anything that wasn't a wall. She had a lot of close calls when the walls threatened to crush her, but she was more focused on getting out than fighting. She had the miraculous misfortune of running right next to a bio-mech, which she shot out of reflex. Unfortunately for her, this is how she managed to take out her five mechs. Walking around then finding a golden skeletal freak with no eyes is scary enough, five times makes you want to shoot the living crap out of them. And she did. Ron thought he had it bad when he first met her, but this was worse.

Kim was having the same problem that Jen was having, her arrows always hitting the walls, no matter how much she concentrated or where she aimed. She could've sworn this was a game and it was cheating, and perhaps it was. It was worse having her enemies just stand there and do nothing. This was one of those cases where she wished someone didn't stay still, as it would increase their chances of getting hit. Then again, it wasn't like these things wanted to get shot, even though it seemed like it on the earlier floors.

She didn't want to do it, but she chose to switch weapons, grabbing the assault rifle. She fired off one round, which hit one of them straight in the neck, but the clip was empty. Kim was unusually calm when reloading, not like earlier where she dropped the clip. She chanced the whole thing, running forward and avoiding the walls that were caving in, and shooting with her eye parallel to the barrel. Unfortunately, she was wasting bullets, drying the gun in seconds. She had taken two more down, but there were two more to go.

That is, until one of the walls that came down caught the gun. Kim didn't even know where the gun was, being focused on the wall movements again. Great.

Suddenly, she felt cold steel grab her neck. A bio-mech had slipped behind her and tried to choke her, but this was no new move to Kim. Just like she had done a hundred times with Shego, she managed to hurl the mech over her shoulder, but did something she didn't think she'd ever do – break the neck. Well, not like in action movies. She just twisted it too far that the CPU in the neck broke, but it sure looked like the former.

One more.

One wall moved to the left, and Kim suddenly found herself in front of a gun barrel. The last mech was holding her gun straight at her head, and quickly pulled the trigger without thought.

-_click_-

Kim smiled, before quickly grabbing the gun out of the mech's hand, turning it around, and firing it. The mech fell instantly as the neck spat out what was left of the CPU.

"PIU. I owe Nev for that one."

Just then, the walls lowered, unveiling the bright white room with square patterns everywhere. Fifteen dead mechs scattered the floor, and Ron and Jen looked surprised to see each other.

"_AUTHORIZATION GRANTED. PLEASE PROCEED."_

The door was clearly in view, but all three of them had their own opinion of the bright room they were in.

"Reminds me of the Matrix," Ron commented.

Jen was putting a new ammo clip in her gun. "'Authorization granted, please proceed?' Weird. Kill fifteen mechs and proceed to the next level. Reminds me of some game. Too many, in fact. Kill a baddie and go through the door. I should arm myself with a corpse…"

Kim was no longer concerned, also reloading her weapon. "We've still got twenty floors to go. This might be just the beginning."

Kim was right for the most part. The next ten floors were completely empty, but once they hit the 90th floor, they were put in yet another familiar situation. It was a small hallway, an entrance to the real threat.

"A laser trap? Please."

Indeed, a smaller room with lasers pointing in all directions, waiting to fry the next intruder. Seeing that this was what she started out with in the very beginning, Kim wasn't intimidated in any way, but just when she was ready to fly past it, all of the lasers started moving, fast. It was like a rave.

Jen almost went pale when she saw this one. "Oookay."

The lasers then went still, but just as Kim was getting ready to go again, they started moving again.

Kim let out a frustrated groan. "They're toying with us."

Jen quickly pulled out a gun and fired it. Kim and Ron were surprised to see what she took out; a surveillance camera right above them.

"I don't know if that'll do any good, but it might help," she smiled.

Unfortunately, it didn't. Ron tossed in a few decoy bullet shells, but they got roasted instantly. Kim tried to toss two in a different direction, seeing if all the lasers focus only on one target, but both were fried equally. So not only would the lasers move at ridiculous speeds depending on the distance of an object, but they would also fry anything that comes within a specific distance.

It even fried another bullet Jen fired.

Ron grunted. "If only there was a duct nearby."

Sure enough, there were actually four small ducts near their feet. Kim and Jen went low as they noticed this, having a hard time getting through with Ron in the middle. But once they squeezed though, they took the plates off and looked through them with flashlights.

Kim thought she found something. "Rufus! A little help here."

On cue, he came out of Ron's pocket. He quickly ran into the small duct Kim had opened, and he confirmed he found a few wires. He quickly snapped them, and they all heard something deactivate, but the lasers were unchanged.

"What about this one?"

Rufus then went into the next vent and snapped the wire he found. Another deactivating sound, and nothing. He went into one Jen found, snapped the wires, deactivation sound, and nothing. And finally, the last one. Sure enough, when Rufus snapped the wires, the lasers went off. After Rufus made himself comfortable in Ron's pocket, the three proceeded carefully into the door on the other side. They found a similar room, but no lasers. The next two rooms were the same.

Kim figured it out. "I'm guessing that those other wires Rufus snapped were supposed to be these ones. Spankin."

Oddly enough, it appeared that the stairs went further than just to the next floor, as opposed to the other stairways in the building. This was probably why it was abandoned; go up a set up stairs, and to go up to the next floor, walk across the building. Then again, the elevators were made to prevent this, if only they weren't rigged.

It took them up to the 100th floor, but there was a peculiar look to the floor and ceiling.

The second Kim took a step forward, the floor tile fell. Fortunately, Kim only lost her footing, and having Ron and Jen as support made matters easier. It turned out the tile fell ten stories to the laser room floor.

"No big, we can still manage."

With that, she pulled out her trusty grappling gun and shot it into the ceiling. But when she tugged on it, the ceiling tile came off, and when it hit the floor tile, it was sent ten stories below. It took Kim a while to get the ceiling tile off once her gun retracted. She tried to fire it in the same location, but the hook just bounced off, unable to penetrate the wall and ceiling.

Ron tried the same thing with his grappling hooks in his gloves, but with the same results.

"Hmm…" Jen pondered. "They don't fall immediately… I'm going to risk it!"

"Jen!"

Ignoring Kim, Jen ran as fast as she could to the very end of it, but Kim and Ron saw where she was going with this. The tiles only collapsed a second after she put a foot down, but by then it was already off and onto the next one. Both were appalled that she made it all the way to the end. Unfortunately, there was no way for Kim and Ron to get across.

Or was there?

"I think I know where she's going with this, KP. I'ves gots an idea."

"Ron, don't be reckless!"

Ron didn't listen, leaping toward the walls and actually running on them. He made it to the end rather easily, much quicker than Jen. Kim slapped her forehead when she saw Ron do a victory dance. Unfortunately, this left Kim with various tiles on the wall, ceiling, and floor to deal with. She wasn't exactly capable of running on walls like a ninja, either. Close, but no cigar.

"No big…"

Kim took a breath to ready herself, then did what she needed to do. She started on the floor, leapt toward the wall, jumped off onto the floor, then the other wall, and continued until she reached the end, only to be teased by Ron.

"What was that about, Kim? You didn't want us to risk it, but you didn't hear us when you were coming across."

"Only because you knew what was going to happen," she countered, "Seeing as Jen proved that they don't collapse immediately."

She got him on that one.

"C'mon, you two. We've got floor one 'o one to deal with."

They went up the stairs, and when Kim opened the door to the next floor, the room was completely dark. However, when they all put on their masks to see, they got nothing but static. They quietly closed the door and talked out in the stairway.

"What gives?"

Kim was all too familiar with this. "Either it's some jamming signal or too much harmonic resonance... See? My Kimmunicator doesn't work, either."

She showed Jen the Kimmunicator, and sure enough, it was showing nothing but static.

"Well, great. Another EFG, I guess."

They did the routine as usual. Kim pulled the pin and tossed it into the room, and when it went off, they went charging in. The second the grenade went off, the lights turned on, revealing the third breed of bio-mechs.

The three didn't realize they had already taken out four hundred of these. Do the math, and taking out twenty to thirty for sixteen floors wasn't as big as a deal as they thought it would be.

This floor had one hundred, were immune to the effects of the EFG, and were all armed with swords. Their appearance were different than the golden ones… in fact, they didn't have a solid color. They were reflecting everything else in the room, almost turning them virtually invisible. To Ron, this was like a game; save the most for last. There wouldn't be anymore of this once this floor was cleared.

Jen tossed another EFG just in case, but none of them were affected. They were skeletal like the golden ones, but if they weren't affected, this meant that they weren't made from Bradtosium. So, she decided to test something else. She fired a bullet into one of their skulls, but the bullet flattened, unable to penetrate the metal bone. The second time, she shot one straight in the neck, and it fell hard. Kim was surprised to see the CPU fly out towards her, and it didn't have her dad's Hephaestus insignia on it.

"These aren't regenerative types. Weird."

But that didn't mean they weren't intelligent. All of them looked briefly at their fallen comrade, then stared at the intruders with firm grips on their swords. Jen decided to fire another round, but one of the mechs was able to deflect her bullet. She decided to play Rambo and fired her assault rifle endlessly, only to find the bullets on the floor. The mechs had somehow managed to deflect every single one of her bullets with just blades.

Jen was impressed. "Damn."

"My turn…"

Kim went next, grabbing five arrows and shooting one after another. The arrows weren't deflected, but were instead sliced to pieces, and the arrowheads were caught in their hands. It was a pitiful sight.

For Ron, he was starting to feel weird, and he couldn't explain it. It wasn't sickness… nor pain, and it definitely wasn't food. Nev may have forced Jen to cook the couple some food because of her condition, and Ron hadn't eaten in some time, but she wasn't a bad cook. Focus, Ron. It was similar to the feeling he had back at the cave, but he was completely free of the nanos. No… this feeling… he remembered it from long ago, when he went to Yamanuchi the first time, fighting Fukushima.

It was some kind of sudden adrenaline rush, and back then it allowed him to perform a forbidden move that Sensei didn't teach him. But the circumstances were different.

"They're mine!"

Unknown to the girls, Ron was actually equipped with an extra sword, pulling it out as he leapt into the air, letting out his usual high-pitched battle cry, but this time it had much more adrenaline and was fierce, almost enough to scare both Kim and Jen.

Before his red-head girlfriend could cry his name, both girls froze as the mechs were sent flying from the impact of his landing, creating a clear circle for himself. And before Kim could even _attempt_ to cry his name, both girls saw mech body parts fly everywhere. Limbs, heads, everything. Ron was swinging his swords like helicopter blades, with no less speed than the real thing. Thankfully, unlike the golden series, these bio-mechs were purely mechanical, meaning no human parts. This worked in Kim's favor, otherwise she might've gotten queasy again. But Ron was moving at an incredible speed, and there were times where Kim saw Ron jumping from the wall, but Jen didn't see it. Likewise, Jen thought she saw Ron jump onto the wall, but Kim missed it.

When it was all over, there was bio-mech parts scattered everywhere. Kim was surprised to see that she was somehow carrying Jen in her arms, and dropped her with ease.

"Ow…"

She was even more surprised to see Ron standing in the middle, unscathed, but laughing with a sword in each hand.

"A-booyahahahahahahAHAHAHAHAHHA-"

Just when it appeared that Ron had completely lost it, a loud and haunting rip cut him off. Before long, the girls could see the pattern on his boxers.

"AWWW!" he groaned with the utmost disappointment.

Kim had a sly curve on her lips. "Bulletproof outfit, but sliceable."

Ron pulled his pants up quickly, noticing a peculiar glow in Kim's eyes, more so where they were. "So much for my new victory laugh."

"Victory laugh?"

"Well, I figured since villains had an evil laugh, good guys should have a victory laugh."

Kim was completely unfazed. "Uh huh."

Jen slowly walked toward them, rubbing the butt Kim dropped. Hers.

"Well, now that Ron's cleaned house, I think that's the rest. I counted 501."

Now Kim was fazed. "You kept count?"

Jen returned the gesture. "You didn't?"

Kim looked slightly embarrassed. "No... Not really. So is that it?"

"I dunno. I'd tell you to ask Wade or Nev…"

"… but the signal's still messed up."

Jen sighed. "Right. So we're four floors away from the roof."

Ron chuckled. "Yup. You know, I thought the whole 'scaling the building' would've been a hellhole."

Kim nodded. "You know, so did I."

"Me too." Jen agreed.

So that was it? Apparently so. But the Bio-Mechs were all intentionally created with a weakness in case they were placed into the wrong hands, as well as Dr. Possible's Hephaestus Project. Of course, no amateur would know of such a thing, only those who were experts on technology.

The three continued onward, with poor Ron having to pull his pants up. Little did he know that it was an intentional flaw done by Nev, just in case he became too overconfident and became reckless again. After a while, on the stairs to the 103rd floor, they managed to stay on.

"Weird… it was like they clicked back into place…" Ron thought out loud.

This broke Jen's concentration. "Say that again?"

"Never mind."

Floor 103 was the floor that Kim and Ron first encountered Elurt on. No one even bothered to cover up the windows, still with bullet holes.

However, floor 104 had a _much_ different appearance than every other floor in the building. It had the sleek and sophisticated appearance of a furnished library, with wooden chairs that were perfectly articulated, as well as every other bit of furniture in the room. It had a calm and peaceful appearance, almost making Kim hope that this is the kind of place she gets to study alone in when she's in college. Since when an abandoned building become a mansion?

Jen didn't appear to be in any way suspicious. This room was too calm for traps. Even though she lowered her weapons and walked casually through the floor, Kim couldn't shake the feeling in her stomach that this was a trap.

"Jen, wait!"

"What? There's no traps in this room, Kim. I know of it. Take a look at the ceiling, the walls and the floor. There's nothing suspicious in terms of architecture. This can't be a trap."

Suddenly, her face was engraved into the floor, sending debris and splinters flying, knocking her out immediately. This was quick to startle Kim and Ron, because there didn't seem to be a cause for it. Nothing fell on her, nothing hit her. Kim carefully studied the room for any kind of traps, but stopped when she noticed Ron had a tense look on his face, his eyes locked onto something.

"KP, it's stealth camouflage…" he whispered.

After the line's delivery, a few electric sparks appeared in the form of a human, standing tall. When it turned off, they saw a tall man in a tuxedo standing on Jen's head.

As usual, Kim was the one to start the introduction, the prelude.

"Fred Elurt… Not surprised to see you here."

Elurt took a step off of Jen, grabbing her head and taking if from the floor, slowly leveling his eyes with hers as pieces of wood fell from her face. In comparison, Elurt was a giant.

"Hmph. Blondes. No novelty value whatsoever."

Ron could have sworn at one point he thought the same thing, but he couldn't remember when, where or why.

He quickly tossed her aside like a cloth rag before turning his attention to Team Possible. He was a towering man, wearing a shining black tuxedo. He removed his coat, revealing a bare chest. To the surprise of his opponents, he was incredibly well-built, leaving astonished looks on the faces of the team.

This especially took Kim off guard. She had peeked into muscle magazines when she was younger, but Elurt had muscles showing off in areas Kim didn't even remember there being muscles in. He wasn't Andre the Giant, and he wasn't just some dumb lug like his bodyguard, G. He wasn't like Ron with the muscular enhancer ring before, as that was mostly simulated. It was like some monster drawn in a comic book. Some girls think too many muscles can never be a bad thing, and the thought came to Kim's mind long before she attended high school. She was just proven otherwise, as it was a scary sight for her.

"So, you've also gotten stealth camouflage?"

Elurt cracked his knuckles, as well as the upper portion of his body, before he got into a fighting stance.

"Dive didn't see a need for it anymore."

Ron cut in. "So what's the real deal, Fred? You threaten to take over the world with four fake nukes and sixteen bio-mechs, followed by a thousand more. I mean, fake nukes?"

Elurt shook his head. "I wish I knew the answer myself. All of this was his doing."

"What?"

"The fake nukes that contained the nanos, turning my reliable syntho-drone bodyguards into bio-mechs, attacking you with four MPAWVs… it was all him."

Kim pushed Ron aside. "Wait, you're saying that you had nothing to do with any of what's been going on?"

The unshaven man shook his head. "Not entirely… He cut me a deal… convinced me that if I cut a deal with him, the world would be mine. All of it. First, it started with the assassination of various mafia gangs, the Forefathers included. That was done to create economic confusion… being more than qualified to fix such a situation, it sounded like it would work."

"So what was up with the blood drainage?" Kim continued as she got back into a stance.

"To assure me I could trust him by taking out an obstacle? Hell if I know. He took everything from there. All he did was tell me what was going on, but he never told me his true intentions… Well, that's not entirely accurate. To cut a deal with him, he only demanded one thing… you."

"Why? Who is he, really?"

"I have tried to find out, but I have failed in achieving such a thing. Now it seems as if he's double-crossed me."

Kim smiled. "Sucks to be you."

Elurt snorted. "Oh, not for long. After I kill you, I'll find him and kill him as well."

Ron chuckled. "I bet you couldn't lay a finger on him, could you?"

Kim and Elurt froze, surprised.

"How the hell did you know that?" Elurt demanded.

"It's not that hard, really…" Ron replied with a casual tone in his voice. "I don't think you'd just stand and watch him screw around with you, not with that build, unless you'd get schooled by him. Here you have someone do whatever he wants with your money and belongings, and you're just at the sidelines with no idea what's going on."

"What are you saying?"

"Dude, you're a tool. Dive tricked you into thinking you were going to get all of the world. I mean, KP and I have fought bad guys who've teamed up to destroy the world through time."

"And?"

"They never share, period."

Kim blinked, completely unfamiliar with this. "Ron, since when?"

"You know, when Monkey Fist, Drakken, Shego and Duff Killigan teamed up."

"When did this happen?"

"You know, I don't remember."

"Silence!" Elurt yelled. "Too true, Stoppable…"

Fred got out of his stance to walk around in thought, and kicked a chair down before resuming his previous position.

"It's a shame I hadn't realized this earlier. But don't worry. Once I kill you, I'll find a way to kill him… somehow."

Ron scoffed. "As if."

Elurt yelled in bitter rage, about to throw a fit.

"You know nothing of my abilities! Prepare yourselves!"

Kim and Ron resumed their stances as Elurt charged at them. They returned the gesture.

* * *

The taste of rain is usually pleasant in the mountains of Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Bay City. 

Yori came to as blinding helicopter lights flew over her. She instantly rose from the concrete she had been drooling on for the last four hours, observing her environment. She then noticed a slight pain deep in her neck, but the second she touched that part of the neck, she sighed.

"A sleeping needle… I should have known."

Her attention then turned back to the helicopter that woke her up. She read that helicopters frequent in populated areas, but not armored ones… and not ones armed with missiles and machine guns. The massive vehicle appeared to have been hovering over her for some time, but the second her eyes made contact with the pilot's, he made various hand signals and turned the air vehicle around. It quickly flew away, and Yori knew exactly where it was headed: The Tower.

"Oh no…"

Unfortunately, the pain in her left leg continued to hammer against her, and it didn't help that she was too weak from earlier. She tried as hard as she could to fight it, but she collapsed near the edge of the roof.

"It is a trap…"

The message behind the hand signals? "Stay out of the way."

* * *

If there was one thing that Kim and Ron had a hard time learning over the years, it was underestimating their enemy. Fred Elurt was a rich mogul who was an expert in business practices and with an unhealthy obsession with taking over the world, but nothing was said about him being built or being a martial artist. At first, the two used moves and techniques only meant to immediately incapacitate the enemy, usually just knocking them down and out. But when it's you that's flying across the room, it's pretty obvious it won't work. But Kim and Ron have been used to being kicked around by Shego and Monkey Fist, so they caught on quickly. 

The two decided to use separate techniques against him if they wanted to take him down. Kim's primary martial arts style had been the Mantis style, mixed with her own personal mixings, and Ron's was obviously Tai Shing Pekk Kwar. Elurt's? Self-taught, and depending on the knowledge of the fighter, this could be a ridiculous move on their account, or extremely deadly.

The only other person Kim knew with self-taught martial arts? Shego. Elurt didn't have glowing hands or green skin, but he was no lightweight.

Often, Kim and Ron would throw different moves in his direction, but he was well-versed in his defensive moves, usually slapping their fists or legs away, and then striking immediately after. Often, when Kim and Ron would perform a move, usually airborne, Elurt would counterattack with a move that struck them in an open area. His style consisted of a few styles, mostly those that emphasized on counterattacks.

The team came to realize this when Kim jumped off the wall and tried to perform a spinning kick, but she learned to utilize it better. Her enemies could no longer determine if she was going to aim high or low, and she could decide that at the last second, almost making it impossible to counter it unless you're a clairvoyant. It was her usual move since day one, but she had a hard time realizing that it was also the one move that left her defenseless if she missed, and lately she had. Even if you keep your opponent guessing, a lot of them would catch on that you simply needed to get out of the way. Elurt went in low, allowing her to fly over him, but he quickly did a front somersault. He released his leg out, grabbing Kim by the neck with his foot and slammed her head on the floor when he landed. It wasn't enough to take Kim out, though, nor do any serious damage.

Ron had actually thought outside the box and tried to use weapons, such as his sword, but Elurt somehow managed to catch it with his bare hands. Ron refused to let the blade go, but this wasn't necessarily the smartest thing to do. Elurt waved him around like a pendulum and threw him toward a wall. To his surprise, Ron landed on his feet and thrusted himself off the wall, giving Elurt a hard right punch, knocking the towering man down.

This would be the first of many hits the two would deliver. Elurt was good at what he knew, but unfortunately for him, he wasn't skilled in several styles. This gave Kim the upper hand as she was. Often it would appear that she would deliver a blow to the gut with a punch from one technique, only to cancel it and go in low with the sweep from another technique. Sometimes she would punch left with one technique, cancel it and deliver a right from another technique. The strategy was good at throwing her opponent off.

This was one of the many things Ron taught to Kim in their sparring lessons in the sunset of his backyard. He was only trained in Monkey Kung Fu, Jujitsu, and lately he even used wrestling techniques in fights – often taking out many of the Ice Shadows with grappling moves and choke holds. His girlfriend was tough, but he couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't know how to properly utilize her fighting abilities, considering she was well-versed in many styles than he was. Tourou-ken (Mantis), Crane, Tae Kwon Do, Jujitsu thanks to Ron, Dux-Ryu (American Jujitsu), a bit of Jeet Kune Do and Muay Thai, what many know as the kickboxing style. He never saw this before, but after his training from Yamanuchi, it became crystal clear. Ron, like Kim's enemies, was not able to see this before. This was because most fighters challenge their opponents with a peculiar fighting stance that reveals their style. However, Kim never saw a need for this, believing it was nothing more than just drama and theatrics, and that was the last thing that crossed her mind in a hand-to-hand duel. Her stances varied every single time, showing that she was a practitioner in such things, but it never revealed what style she was going to attack in. She didn't realize that it threw her opponents off. When Ron noticed this in a sparring match with Kim in his backyard, he saw a potential in it that Kim didn't know. She wasn't exactly a martial artist who tried to become more and more powerful, as she had other things in life she wanted to pursue. Unfortunately, against someone as trained as Ron in Monkey Kung Fu, it was clear that going back and forth between styles without thought wasn't the best idea.

For example, Kim would deliver several kicks in style A, but in the situation, the kicks from style B would have been more effective. Often, the situations varied depending on the opponent's style, the strength and weaknesses of the fighter and the style, and whether they were armed. Take the Mantis style, for example. With the moves Kim knew, she was better off using it against an opponent who left their midsection open, instead of doing moves that would strike the upper portion of the body as she often did, where other techniques were better at the said area.

So, one day, after countering several of Kim's moves that left her eating grass, he told her everything. Well, after Kim pouted in embarrassment, hoping that no one was driving by and saw that, and hoping Ron would forget the sight within days. Not as embarrassing as the pants incident, but it still didn't help her pride any.

He not only told her when to use specific moves in situation A and B, but he also taught her how to mix the styles effectively. So instead of fighting with Mantis and then switch to Muay Thai, he taught her how to combine everything she knew in combat. This way, if she broke from Crane style and went into Muay Thai, the second her opponent would recognize the style, she would switch to Jeet Kune Do, catching them off guard. He went easy on her in a training exercise, much to her dismay, forcing her to make each move in a different style. If she did anything as to perform two moves in the same style consecutively, the date to the mall was off, just when they would get a brand new shipment of Club Banana's Summer Line.

Needless to say, Kim did as she was instructed to do. She was excited about the new line more than Monique.

She wasn't convinced it would work at first, but luckily the sparring lesson was interrupted by another mission. Some high-priced jewel was being stolen downtown. Ron allowed Kim to do this alone, and to Kim's surprise, she was able to put everyone out of commission without breaking a sweat. She never expected Ron to be a teacher in anything, especially with how high school went, but he wasn't bad as a martial arts instructor. He wasn't Sensei, but he knew enough about Kim's fighting abilities to see the flaws in it. Makes sense; Kim teaches Ron several things, and it was his time to do the same.

Elurt may have been self-trained, but with each blow Kim was giving him and slipping past his defenses, he was becoming familiar with what she was doing. Unfortunately for her, she was fighting in a pattern, and when she went with a left hook from the crane style, she faked it and went in high with a roundhouse kick from the Jeet Kune Do style. This was perhaps the third time Kim did this exact move. She almost yelped in surprise when the huge man caught her leg and threw her across the room and into Ron, but not before dragging her around and slamming her into every piece of furniture the floor had to offer. He was often brutal when he saw an opening, but Kim wasn't the only one who was open. When Ron tried to attack, he also tried mixing moves, but he had a problem with distance. Most of his moves were designed to be lethal in close quarters, but he left himself wide open with Elurt took a few steps back. Often, he would grab Ron's neck, run across the room and slam him into the bookshelves on the walls, then finish it when slamming his face into the floor. Unlike Jen, debris and wooden splinters didn't fly in the air.

As the fight went on, Kim and Ron were getting further past Elurt's defenses and were able to escape his grasp when he countered. This wasn't really because of Kim and Ron being the better fighters, but rather, Elurt's own age was working against him. Kim and Ron have had several duels that lasted almost up to a full hour, and their young vitality allowed them to keep going. However, with Elurt, he was showing signs of exhaustion already. Needless to say he refused to give up.

Instead, he turned on the small gadget on his belt. Instantly, he disappeared, invisible to Kim's eyes. Ron could still see him somehow.

He tried to think of something as Elurt went straight for Kim, striking her in several places as he circled her. Every time Kim tried to counter in the direction she was hit, she'd get hit elsewhere, and the pattern went on for some time.

"Ron! Gah! Hel- Ugh! Help me!"

He wanted to, but he had no idea what to do. Unlike his previous encounter with Dive and the stealth camo, he couldn't see it as well. If only he had something to see him wi-

The visors on the masks.

Just as he put it on, it instantly went into thermal mode, free of the jamming signal, and he could see Elurt perfectly.

"KP! Use the mask visors!"

To make sure she wasn't hit as she put on her suit, she performed some kind of awkward spinning kick, stretching out her leg as she spun several times on one foot. By the time she was done, her mask was on and she could see her enemy right in front of her.

Kim had to onslaught Elurt with a bevy of punches and hooks from every style she knew, he could only block out a few of them. When it came to throws, they wound up throwing each other several times, probably more on Kim's part. Kim would land on her feet, and it appeared Elurt would, too, only if Ron didn't tackle him with a clothesline seconds away from landing. Of course, he retaliated by sweeping Ron off his feet and using the momentum to put himself back on his, only to find a foot an inch away from him. Size seven. As Kim was about to leap off of his face, he grabbed her leg and dragged her across the room, slamming her against all of the furniture in the room again. The bookshelves, tables, chairs, all of it. Some broke, most of it didn't. Kim tried to break out of it, but had a hard time with her body being jerked back and forth, and Elurt's grip was pretty nasty. He was being much more serious now.

Finally, he let her go when he noticed Ron was charging at him, but he pulled off a punch that surprised even Kim, knowing where it hit. Not the chest, not the face, not the belly, and not even the crotch.

The neck. Ron's knuckles collided with the Adam's apple of Elurt's throat. This wasn't a diversion or anything. He punched no harder than he did when he had to break a wooden door some time back, but his eyes were focused elsewhere.

The sickening sound of the organ almost snapping gave Kim a sick feeling inside her stomach.

Elurt flew back as his stealth camo turned off, choking and coughing a bit of blood, collapsing onto his knees. Ron helped Kim back up, almost taking her off the floor like dancers would in the Tango.

Kim was tempted to hit him as they removed their masks. "Geez, Ron. Don't you think you went overboard?"

Ron didn't seem to be amused. "Wasn't intentional. I was actually sidetracked by the zit-"

"ZIT? WHAT ZIT?" Kim was ecstatic, pulling out a mirror and 'scanning' it over her face.

"The back of your neck, KP."

Kim lowered her head. "Aw, man!"

The loud coughing of a middle-aged man interrupted the moment. Elurt tried to speak, even yell, but immense pain surrounded his neck with every vocal cord being used.

"This… isn't… the end…!"

He had moved toward the desk in the middle of the floor, quickly grabbing it and hurled the entire thing at the couple. They both somersaulted over it easily, but Elurt didn't seem to use the moment to flee. He kept coughing and hacking, still on his knees. Ron took the moment to go to see if Jen regained consciousness, while Kim kept her eyes on Elurt. He placed a finger on Jen's wrist to check her pulse, finding her hand on his wrist instead.

"I'm fine…"

The pain in her head didn't allow her to open her eyes or move much, and Ron could see this one easily.

"Just… leave me here… I'll only slow you down. Just take my bag… It's got everything you need in there."

It would be too long to take every weapon out and carry them, so he took off her backpack and put it on, almost collapsing from the weight. Ron grabbed the backpack, which was hauntingly heavy. He couldn't believe he forgot that Jen carried most of the weapons.

"Thanks, Jen."

She let out a weak giggle. "Hey, favor repaid, huh?"

He remembered, for her blunder with mistaking Yori as the true enemy, she offered to help Kim and Ron in the fight, and they had made it this far. He let out a weak but warm smile as he got up. Just as she requested, he left her behind and walked toward Kim and Elurt.

"How's he doing?"

"He won't talk."

Elurt chuckled. "You won't… capture me today…"

"Oh really?"

His response came in the form of pulling out a knife and lunging at the two. They both performed a backflip to evade, but when they landed, they saw that Elurt was hastily making his way toward the stairs to the next floor.

"Ron! Don't let him get away!"


	19. 18: Dissemination

**Chapter 18: Dissemination**

_As always, thanks to all reviewers. The last chapter was updated with one correction and a rewrite of the 'pants' part for effect._

_Now this story and the previous one are in another c2s community: __Ace Ian Combat's Headquarters__. Thanks to the Ace Ian Combat/ kpultimatefan for adding it!_

_And now we reach the beginning of the end. Dive will finally be revealed in this chapter! I've given enough hints, and I doubt you'll be surprised who it is. 18 is a magic number._

_

* * *

_

With Elurt, Kim and Ron on the final level of the building, they thought this would all be over.

Instead, Elurt was running as fast as he could to the other side with Kim and Ron in pursuit, both carrying heavy equipment; A Stinger Missile launcher and a backpack that consisted of virtually their whole arsenal. The old man was getting most of his energy back, starting to actually run faster than his pursuers. In-between them were several flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder, making it clear a storm was coming.

The final floor was strange in comparison to the others. There was absolutely nothing, just a plain marble floor and clear windows everywhere. There was nothing lighting the room other than the strange spotlights outside, probably police helicopters finding a way through security. This high, no one could hear sirens if they were there. The scenery didn't help Elurt in any way. Kim and Ron were like predators after him, able to see him in the dark.

He would have had a better chance of escaping if he didn't take his time grabbing the jacket of his tux and trying to put it on. Then again, if he were to escape to the roof with this storm, he would need it if he didn't want to catch a cold. But that didn't matter, either. Ron already delivered an injury that would probably take him to the hospital.

Elurt managed to make it to the stairway on the opposite end of the building, but he had no way of locking the door. It wasn't like he was concerned with that, anyway. He was desperate to get to the roof and make his escape with Dive. He knew he was used, and he would pretend to still have an alliance with the said person, then kill him when he least suspected it.

Finally, the roof.

There were a few lights on the stairway building that lit the area, a large satellite on one corner, probably the cause of the disruption in communications, and six energy tanks, positioned like the five dots on a dice. One for every corner, one being right next to the satellite, and two in the middle. Kim would expect probably one or two, but six? She couldn't help but feel that this was a trap, and not by Elurt, either.

The shaken man collapsed when he reached the opposite edge, whether it was from Ron's blow or disbelief. He expected Dive to be right here to save him, but he was nowhere to be seen. The only thing he could see in the skies were lightning and the moon hidden in the clouds.

"No… Dive… you…!"

He coughed and hacked shortly afterward, throwing up as well.

Kim calmly approached the enemy with Ron behind her, not appearing to be surprised but drenched in water.

"Well, I guess Ron was right, Elurt. You were used. I don't think your ride has any other use for you."

The old man just glared at Kim as he got onto his knees. "Actually, it's quite the contrary, Miss Possible… He's just on time…"

Kim and Ron froze in silence. Other than the sound of rain pouring, they heard a humming sound… rotors…

Suddenly, out from below, blinding spotlights from a helicopter lit the rooftop. When they died down, everyone could see that this thing was huge, probably about the size of the rooftop itself. It was painted in military camouflage, armed with twelve missiles, six for every wing, and its size could be blamed on the thick armor all around it.

Elurt was starting to make a strange noise, almost like a chuckle, and then rose into insane laughter.

He pointed at Kim. "You! …You really had me going there, Possible, but you… you have failed! Until we meet again…! The world will be mine!"

He continued to laugh more, easily losing himself in the process. But it died down when nothing happened. Kim and Ron were still just standing there, and he was surprised to see that the helicopter behind him was idle. No rope or ladder was released.

"Dive… What the in God's name are you doing up there? Are you just going to sit there?"

No response.

"Answer me!"

A small laugh from the loudspeaker could be heard, until it broke out into a loud malicious one, echoing the rooftop. What caught Kim's surprise was that this wasn't the mechanical filter from Dive she was expected, but a regular human voice, one with an eerie familiarity.

"That voice…" she thought out loud.

Elurt didn't like where this was going. "What the hell are you laughing at?"

Finally, Dive - or rather, the person behind the mask - talked.

"_I'm sorry, but your regularly scheduled escape won't be seen tonight. In the meantime, we are proud to bring you death and catastrophic hell!"_

Elurt and Ron then caught on.

"Wait… Who are you?" Elurt demanded.

"_Oh, I'm quite the same person you expected, only that I'm not here to save you."_

"What are you talking about?"

"_You knew very well what my demands were, Elurt. Now that I have Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable right where I want them, I have no further use for you. You've served your purpose. You may die now."_

Everyone took a step back when they noticed a missile moved on the helicopter. The sound of a missile lock beep could be heard on the loudspeaker as well, obviously taking place from the inside. Elurt was steaming, almost foaming at the mouth.

"You… you… traitor!"

The pilot just laughed. _"Traitor? Foolish man… It was not I who was the traitor. Just call this… payback."_

"Payback?"

"_I would be more than delighted to refresh your memory, but I have other… _more_… important matters to attend to."_

"Answer me!"

The pilot laughed even more as the vehicle moved away from the building, enough to disappear in the storm. When Elurt was about to open his mouth, assuming Dive made a cowardly escape, a small light could be seen briefly.

The sick feeling in Kim's stomach only got worse. "Ron… get down…"

The two were still near the stairway building, quickly ducking and covering for the inevitable. Just as Kim anticipated, the helicopter flew past them like a jet, the force of wind knocking Elurt off his feet.

"_See you in hell, you old bastard!"_

Again, before Elurt could yell at his ex-colleague, a high-pitched hissing noise could be heard from far away, and before long, it was clear that Dive launched a missile from where he was just at. It was aiming straight for him, and he froze in shock, almost yelping. His yelping turned into a high-pitched scream as the missile got closer.

Kim covered her eyes when the loud explosion went off, and the blinding light from it forced Ron to do the same. When everything cleared up, both ran to where Elurt was once standing, but finding nothing but a huge burnt spot.

Nothing was left of him, except for a small plastic device. The stealth camo. Kim picked it up and stared at the burnt marks at it.

"My God…" she quietly spoke with fear in her voice.

She even fell to her knees. Accidentally killing a bio-mech was one thing, but to witness someone being blown to hell from a missile was another. She would've thought that with all the action movies Ron took her to, that she would've been able to stare death straight in the eye.

Speaking of whom, he was right there next to her, but he had his sights elsewhere; up to the helicopter hovering above them.

"Kim... we have more important matters at hand…" he spoke with absolute seriousness. He wasn't going to be a buffoon here.

The person behind the controls of the flying machine just let out a weak chuckle as he pointed the nose of the copter toward the two.

"_Pathetic human… More than qualified to be a threat… but turned out to be nothing more than just a pawn…"_

Kim rose up and turned her head to the helicopter. She wasn't going to appear weak now.

"Dive… who are you? What are you really after?"

"_Oh, come on, Kim. You've gotten this far and yet, you still haven't figured out anything!"_

"Tell me! Who are you?"

"_Who am I? Who am I? I'm YOU! I'm your opposite! The broken reflection! Your shadow! The Yin to your Yang!"_

Apparently, these didn't spark any plugs for Kim. The word 'corn' came to mind.

"_Think about it for a second… you may not recognize my appearance, but I am the only person on this planet with this voice!"_

Kim couldn't see anything through the windows of the cockpit due to the rain. But he had given her a hint, his voice.

"_Come on, Kim. You're getting close. You recognize it, no doubt about it."_

Now that he didn't have a mask, she could confirm that it was a male voice, he sounded young, but deep… but it had power… as if demanding respect… but so much, so much hatred in it.

"_Closer…"_

The second it came to her, everything froze. She almost fainted from disbelief.

"_There. You know who I am."_

"No… it can't be…"

Ron was skeptical, knowing that Kim was starting to appear pale.

"Kim? Who is he?"

"_Do you remember me now, Kimberly… Anne… Possible?"_

Kim almost trembled at the lips, unable to answer.

"KP…?"

Dive lowered himself so that Kim and Ron could see him clearly. It appeared that he was still wearing a gas mask with his blonde mullet, but not for long. He quickly pulled off the mask, hiding his face as he also removed what appeared to be a wig. When he rose his head, everything was revealed.

Spiky jet-black hair, a scar over his left eye, a look in his eyes that thirsted for blood, and a smile that had a child's joy in it.

Both Kim and Ron instantly recognized him.

"VAL! HOW THE…"

Laughter from inside the helicopter interrupted the two as it flew from one side to the other.

"_You couldn't forget me even if you tried, Team Possible!"_

Ron froze. "What? How…"

"_You have guessed correctly, my friends! Here's your reward!"_

Another missile on the helicopter shifted.

"_Have at you!"_

Instead of backing away, Val fired the missile up close at full speed, giving the two no time to think. Kim dove to the side in reflex as the missile flew past Ron, right into the satellite in the far corner. The explosion, mixed with the energy tank next to it, was huge, knocking Ron right off his feet and shoving his face into the concrete.

"RON!"

Kim quickly went to his aid, but he was unconscious.

"_Bah! In the face of danger and your mind still relies on another! Pity. I hoped that you would have evolved into the best that there is, Kimberly Anne!"_

"Shut up!" she barked. "I don't know how you survived, Val, but now that I know that you're behind this…"

She took a firm grip on the Stinger Missile Launcher, and now that she grabbed a missile from the backpack Ron was wearing, she secured it inside. It was loaded.

"…all the hell I've gone through… all that you've put Ron through… everything that you've done… I'm going to kick your ass and send you back to hell!"

Right now, she didn't even bother with the interrogations. She didn't want to hear how or why everything had happened so far. Now that she knew Dive's true identity, she was going to make him pay. It wouldn't have been any different if Dive was actually any of her usual textbook villains.

If Ron were still conscious, not only would he keep Kim focused, but he probably would've asked the usual questions: The purpose, who, when, where and why.

Kim was too focused on getting revenge for all the hell he put her through. She could be calm in a situation, but when Ron's life had been at stake over and over and over again, it became unbearable. She couldn't think straight at all, and she was anything but calm. No more was the calm and cool Kim Possible that was well known and feared throughout the world. Something inside her snapped, filling her with utmost rage. Someone was going to pay, and the thought of possibly killing her opponent didn't even come to mind at all.

Valia had her number after all.

Lightning flashed as her nose and the nose of the helicopter faced each other.

It was time to finish this fight once and for all.

From the lock-on screen from inside the machine, it would be hard to see if it was rain or tears on Kim's face. The red in her eyes confirmed that it was the latter.

Val seemed fairly impressed. _"Just as human as I'd expect you to be, my dear. But this is no time for your usual drama or smart talk. Are you going to mope and cry, or are you going to fight? Which would dear old Ron choose?"_

"He'd want me to go on and take you down, and that's exactly what I'm going to do!"

"_Kim Possible versus a modified Hind?"_

The helicopter didn't even resemble a Hind. It was modified to have the appearance of a heavily armored tank, only that it functioned as a flying gunship.

"I can do anything…" she hissed as she mounted the missile launcher onto her shoulder.

"_Including hesitate." _Val retorted as he recognized the stinger._ "Can you really shoot that thing?"_

"Watch me!"

Just like that, she locked onto the Hind and fired. An explosion rocked its left side. But to Kim's surprise, it quickly went back to its idle stance, almost as if nothing happened.

"'_Nice shot!' That's what I would've said if you actually did any considerate damage! My turn!"_

Another missile cocked as Kim went to grab another Stinger from Ron.

"_Try this on for size!"_

He fired it straight at her, giving Kim no time to reload her weapon.

At least, that's what he thought.

If you turned things into slow motion, the missile flew straight at Kim's torso. But seconds before it made impact, Kim – with the launcher in one hand and a missile in another – actually managed to jump onto the missile and jump off of it, the velocity sending her high into the air, past ten feet approximately. In the peak of the jump, she placed the missile into the launcher and fired. Impossible? You don't know Kim Possible.

It made a direct hit with the nose of the helicopter. This blow sent the Hind back at an angle, and Val could be heard yelling from surprise. He had a bit of a hard time balancing the helicopter again.

He actually sounded happy. _"Brilliant shot, Kim! That little acrobatic move there actually had me going there! Shame the missile still didn't do that much damage!"_

Thankfully, Kim landed right on the stair building on her feet, then dove off towards Ron to grab a missile. She fired it again, striking the bottom of the plane.

"_And neither did that one!"_ Val mocked as he regained control. _"Tell you what… how about we get serious?"_

This time, four panels opened on the wings of the helicopter, revealing turret guns. Kim quickly leapt away in case they fired, but not before grabbing another missile from Ron's backpack. There appeared to be at least ten left.

"_Do you really think you can shoot me down with your limited arsenal?"_

Kim just stared at him with hateful eyes, not responding.

Val just sighed to himself, not talking to the speakerphone. "Do unto others…" She couldn't hear him.

With that, he accelerated the helicopter forward while firing at his prey nonstop. She was quick to evade the bullets by diving past the energy tanks. Thankfully, Val didn't hit any of them, but if he did, they would have exploded.

"_Thankfully for you, Kimberly Anne, I'm not the kind of person that uses the environment to capture his prey! But with that said, don't be too reckless! Realize that if the center tanks go off, the ones you're hiding behind, it'll set off the others, and it'll kill you and Ron! I don't think you want that on your conscience!"_

As much as Kim hated to think it, he was absolutely right. But before she could think of going across to grab Ron and take him to safety, she was cut off by another trail of bullets piercing the concrete. The helicopter quickly flew past her.

"_By the way, Kim, if you haven't realized it yet, you won't be able to move him with all of the weapons he's carrying. Unless, of course, you want to try to take the backpack off. I don't think you're that stupid, however. It'll slow you down. You'll be killed, and so will Ron! I know you, Kim. You're not going to risk his life even if it means taking me down!"_

Again, he was right. It wouldn't take just a couple of seconds to take off Jen's backpack, and that would make her an easy target for Val. Even if she evaded at the last second, he'd shoot the energy tank near Ron, and that would trigger the others on the roof to go off.

So right now, she could only focus on taking the helicopter out. But she also didn't want to leave Ron behi-

Another spray of bullets coming.

She evaded again by diving out of the way, but the wind of the Hind sent her back as it flew over her. With the layout on the roof, she couldn't hide in one place for long. Unlike the fight with the Fafnir, at least she had a temporary hiding area, but she still had to think fast and constantly be on her feet.

First, take out the helicopter. That was priority number one. It wasn't Ron's safety this time. She realized Val had her right where he wanted her. He wanted to be priority number one, and if Kim tried to make anything else a priority, he would just finish her and Ron at once.

Kim hid behind the stairway building, opposite the side of the helicopter. If Val attacked from where he was at, the bullets had no chance of hitting her. She would have taken the opportunity to fire, but she didn't want to waste missiles. The helicopter's armor was extremely strong, at the cost of speed. She wasn't going to even attempt to shoot her hook at it. If she managed to connect and get on, there could be dire consequences. For one, obviously, the turret guns would have a clear shot at her face. Second, Val could back off far away from the building as Kim tried to climb on. He could then easily shoot the grappling wire, easily sending her to her death below. Third, she could manage to get on and he could shake her off. She wouldn't have anything to go on since the second highest building in Bay City was to the far east and at 75 stories. The mission suit wouldn't protect her against such a fall.

Suddenly, she started feeling a vibration in her pocket. Then it came to her – Val destroyed the satellite that was causing the jamming signal. Since he was still keeping Kim busy by circling the building, she could only grab another missile before running behind the stairway building for safety.

She decided to take this call.

"Wade, this is a really bad time t-"

"_How long are you going to hide, Kim?"_

It wasn't Wade on the Kimmunicator, nor Nev.

"Val? How did you-"

"_What can I say? You're listed."_

"Not funny."

"_You're not going to get any help from your friends this time, Kim. Don't you think getting help on how to destroy this thing is a… how do you put it… 'a little cheatish'?"_

Kim just growled.

Val coughed. _"This is pointless. Maybe I should've just yelled at you from the loudspeaker. Despite that my throat hurts like hell."_

"Hah. Serves you right, pretending to be someone you're not with that gas mask hiding your voice. Poseur."

"_I suppose that's another of the many things we have in common, then."_

Kim scoffed. "I have nothing in common with you, Valia!"

He answered calmly. _"Quite the contrary, Kimberly. You'll find that we're actually very, very much alike. I don't expect for you to accept this so easily, though. You're the type of dame who needs to _see_ it to be_lie_ve it."_

"Oh, shut up already."

"_You know, a woman with intense rage – a pretty one at that – usually gets my adrenaline flowing. But wow, look at you."_

"Too pretty a face for you?" she teased to the point where it wasn't her.

Val only laughed at this, enjoying Kim's hidden rage being exposed.

"_My, I never expected you to be arrogant when it comes to looks, Kim! That is, if that was your way of delivering a taunt, but no. But then again, if it weren't, I wouldn't be surprised. You _were_ a cheerleader, after all. Last time I saw you, you were indeed the best-looking opponent I've ever fought. Not the strongest, but the best-looking. But now, hell, you look terrible. I would've expected in the last few months that you would have looked more daring, but your red eyes really don't help."_

Normally, Kim would've hung up by turning off the Kimmunicator, but the big button in the middle wasn't responding.

"_Earth to Kim, I've hacked into your Kimmunicator. You won't be delivering or receiving any kind of outgoing communication, so don't bother. Don't try to pull off any tricks with it, either. None of the many features are working and therefore, it is useless."_

Kim just snorted.

"_And, FYI, you should be paying more attention to your _real_ problem." _Val finished as he pointed behind her.

Kim quickly turned around, letting out a startled scream. Apparently, the nose of the Hind was inches away from her nose. She backed away with a startled yell, tripping over one of the tiles on the ground and falling right on her back. Val just accelerated away and laughed.

"_Pity I didn't have a camera!"_ he taunted over the Kimmunicator.

Kim shoved the device back into her pocket.

As he flew away, she was thinking perhaps the weak point was the back, the only area she hadn't struck. She quickly fired the stinger before Val turned the helicopter around, but she didn't let her guard down when the back wing abruptly went upward.

"_Hah! Not bad! Unfortunately for you, not good enough!"_

She quickly dove behind the stairway building as Val came charging back with an onslaught of bullets. She almost yelped when a one of them struck one of the supporting poles on one of the energy tanks. Thankfully, it wasn't the actual tank itself. The supporting poles that kept it up had no flammable chemicals.

"_You'd better think fast, Kim. There's no telling when I'll accidentally hit one of those explosive tanks! I don't think you want your funeral to remind your family and friends of barbequed cheerleader!"_

Damn it, again he was right.

* * *

Inside the helicopter, it was clear Valia was having a ball. Not that anyone would notice, but the cockpit had its share of loud music, popcorn, empty soda cans and a few bottles of whiskey. He was actually on a sugar high, drinking at least twelve cans of Pepsi One in five minutes.

Valia had actually received one trait of the usual textbook villain that Kim fought often: He was in love with his own voice. He grabbed the speakerphone and spoke into it.

"You know what, Kim? You're no teenage hero! You don't have what it takes!"

Catching up with her was more fun than he thought it would be. He tossed the speakerphone aside and continued to circle the building. He expected Kim to be a bit frightened when she found out he survived their previous fight, but he wasn't surprised that she exploded into a rage of fury.

Oh, if only Kim knew everything that was _really_ going on, but that would come much, much later.

But for now, he would have some fun with her.

But there was something nostalgic about seeing her stare at him with total anger in her eyes. And it wasn't their prior fight. Heck, it wasn't even Kim. He just continued to stare at her as he thought loudly to himself, not with the aid of the loudspeaker.

"Come on, Kim… You've saved thousands of lives, thwarted hundreds of plots to take over the world, and even destroyed a bunch of the government's top secret weapons of war. I suppose luck is on your side, unless you really are lady luck. How the hell can't you know about military vehicles and how to destroy them? You wouldn't have stood a chance if I was piloting the Harpuia."

A thought came to mind that almost made him snicker.

"Maybe I should point out its location so she could fight me with it… that would prove to be rather interesting. But sadly, I can't have that… I've already broken most of the deal, and I'm still surprised I'm still alive…"

Again, Val stopped the plane, spun it so that he was perpendicular to the building, thrusted the control sticks forward and fired off at Kim again. He had no intention of hitting her, but as he predicted, she dove off to the side. He didn't even care that he had nine missiles left on the machine. He was well-aware that they were there, but he didn't want to put them to waste and throw them away so quickly.

"Some teen hero you turned out to be… I bet you Ferno would have figured out a way to destroy this thing by now. Stupid old man… I told you not to incapacitate any of them…"

Valia wasn't even concerned with Elurt or what happened to him. All he knew was that Kim was taking her time to think of a weak spot for the very thing he was piloting, Ron was knocked unconscious, Jen was still recovering, and Yori was out. Hopefully it would stay that way for some time.

* * *

Kim was becoming suspicious of this duel. One minute Val was taunting her, and the next he was oddly quiet. He was just flying the plane around in a circle, but he didn't charge with bullets as he usually did. She knew his mind was somewhere, but she wasn't going to stand still about it. She quickly grabbed a few missiles from Ron and hid them in the stairway for her to use, since none of the bullets made it inside. Perfect safe spot. If only the bag weren't so secure on him and so heavy, she'd move him there too.

She was still focused on shooting the plane down no matter what. She couldn't take anymore of Ron being in danger like this.

Kim was no expert on heavy weaponry, and the Stinger was no exception. If Jen were near, she would have told her that it was powerful, but not enough to shoot down a heavily armored vehicle so easily. The Hind was not a helicopter that was easy to maneuver, and some of the pilots who can should be feared, especially with its arsenal. It would usually take several missiles to take down something like an armored Hind, but Kim was starting to run dry of ammo.

If anything, she was extremely tempted to fire all of them like hell, but there was no visible damage on the plane. She was starting to think there was no point in using the Stinger because of this. Again, she was also losing confidence in herself, but she was surprised Val didn't attempt to finish her off. Why didn't he just fire at the energy tanks and demolish the rooftop? Oh, if only bad guys did things the easy way. No, Val was going to toy with her, and she knew it. If he was occupied with something else, it meant he was up to something.

Then she started to think… what was another way to shoot a plane down? She had seen people do it with shoulder-mounted missile launchers in the movies, among other weaker weapons, but the armor of this thing was just too powerful.

On the other hand, not being taunted helped her regain her cool, but even with a clearer mind, she couldn't crack a weakness.

She realized the next thing she was going to do was perhaps the dumbest thing she could think of, but she swallowed her pride and pulled out the Kimmunicator.

"Val, what gives?"

The boy on the screen chuckled. _"Did you think it was going to be this easy?"_

"Maybe. But c'mon. One minute you're enjoying your voice yelling at me, and then you're quiet and not paying attent-."

"_Incoming."_

Just as he said, he stormed toward Kim with a bevy of bullets. As she evaded, she noticed that his aim was much more precise. Maybe that wasn't a good idea after all.

"_What were you asking? I had better things to pay attention to. Drinking to a good year while flying a Hind in this weather doesn't help you hear things."_

"Never mind."

"_Personally, Kim, I'm disappointed. How can you be a teenage hero and not know your vehicles?"_

"Not my style, really."

"_Pathetic. You can't even take the time to study military weapons! Oh, if only Ferno weren't rendered incapacitated, she might've been to some use. Otherwise, I'm hardly impressed."_

Kim got an idea. "Hey, mind telling me how to take it down, if you're so… 'unimpressed'?"

"_And you have an IQ of what now? 165? What do you take me for?"_

"Shut up."

"_Now, now, Kimberly. Play nice… or else."_

The Hind was in front of her now, and he turned the helicopter so that it was facing Ron. Kim noticed the first things that shifted were the guns.

"_Really, Kim. What's preventing me from killing Stoppable right here and now?" _Val yelled from the loudspeaker on the plane.

Kim sighed. "What do you want, Val?"

Val laughed. _"Let's make this brief and short, Kim. When your true past consists of nothing but fights, when you've seen as many battles as I have, sometimes you only feel alive when you're staring death in the face. Oh, but just going out to fight just anybody didn't do anything. I needed more… a worthy opponent. That's when I decided you may be of some use…"_

"What are you talking about?"

"_I needed to fight the only person who managed to defeat me in battle! I wanted nothing more than another duel with you, Kim. I have never had someone defeat me so easily in the past, and the fact that I was beaten by a cheerleader is baffling. I'm not surprised Stoppable played a role in it, but a cheerleader? Such a defeat is going to haunt me for life."_

"A rematch?"

"_Rematch? Maybe… maybe not. I don't know what it is about you, but when we last met, there was something about the thrill of battle… I hadn't experienced it in ages."_

"You know, last time, I felt sorry for you. But now you've just lost it."

"_As have you! But wait, you felt sorry for me? Oh, that's right, I remember. Sympathy is nice and ever so sweet, but such things can only be so temporary…"_

"I mean, nanomachines? Bio-Mechs? Draining the blood out of sixteen men? Nuclear weapons? That can't be all."

"_Oh, but maybe it was! Robbing a bank again would be too redundant. I wanted to catch your attention in least predictable way and provoke you to a fight."_

Kim just continued to glare at the idle helicopter, listening to Val as he continued to shout through the loudspeaker.

"_You know, Kim, I find it astonishing that you're considered a hero worldwide, and yet, your usual villains haven't been able to predict your every move. Oh sure, Drakken had you with the syntho-drone, but we already went over that."_

"Spare me the lecture."

"_You see, Kim, humans exist in several breeds. Everyone on this roof exists in a breed of superiority, but sadly, you're among those who I call… predictable. But I wasn't interested in mind control this time. Using that in an attempt to force you and Stoppable to fight to the death proved entertaining, but it was only good as a one-time show. No… this time I wanted to do something bigger. I wanted to see if you were the one they sent after me. But no, they sent twelve others. They were good, I admit, but none of them had the peculiar flare, energy, the vitality that you have. While I made quick work of them, it was anything but an exhilarating experience. But you came on your own 'free will', assisted by your… love, and a girl with fire in her blue eyes. They're very similar to yours… That's three people I know with your eyes. Before death's sweet embrace I needed to see you and fight you one more time. Only then can my soul find respite!"_

"You make it sound like some kind of twisted obsession."

"_I prefer the term 'infatuation',"_ he quickly came back with.

Kim blinked a few times, not that it was noticeable from the Val's POV because of all the rain.

"_Surprised? You know you've had a few boys obsess over you… Oh, that's right. You didn't."_

"They probably did, but definitely not in this way."

Well, this was new – having a bad guy obsess over you when he's trying to kill you at the same time. It could've been worse – If Kim were single and the bad guy turned out to be some hottie worth obsessing over. Not that Val wasn't that bad looking, if he took the time to get a haircut and shave a bit he could woo some girls of his own. But he didn't seem like the type, not with his current bitterness towards love and women.

"_Oh, believe me, in the line of work you're in, it will happen more and more often. I can promise you that."_

Kim didn't take these words seriously. "You honestly expect me to believe that? What do YOU know about hero work and saving the world?"

"_A HELL of a lot more than you'll EVER know!"_ Val barked to his lungs extent.

Kim realized she probably hit a sore spot with that last remark, as Val quickly followed with and endless blaze of bullets. She once again hid behind the stairway building, and Val fired for at least a minute straight, somehow overheating the guns.

Suddenly, Kim heard a noise from the plane she wasn't familiar with, but when she turned to peek around the corner, her eyes almost lit up.

Because of the guns overheating, the armor opened up for venting purposes.

She hadn't fired the missile that was loaded into the launcher, and quickly took advantage of the situation.

"Oh, I _beg_ to differ."

She immediately fired it and rushed to Ron as it flew in the air. A much more powerful explosion rocked the plane, and this was apparent by the sound of metal being destroyed. Also, the plane flew much further away than it did before. Damage was finally visible.

She finally found its weakness, and she took no time to hesitate to fire upon it again.

* * *

From the inside, Val tried to steer away, but held onto whatever he could as he braced himself for impact. As expected, the plane shook violently, causing a lot of the screens to flash wildly.

He laughed with full excitement, jumping and getting himself comfortable in his seat. Kim finally figured out the puzzle. Now it was time for some real action.

With a wide smile on his face, he grabbed the speakerphone.

"That's it, baby! It's on now!"

* * *

Kim's face dropped when she heard this. Did Val just call her 'baby'? Only one man on earth was qualified to call her that (who wasn't her father), and his name was Ron Stoppable.

"Oh, it is…" she snarled.

In the cockpit, there was a red button Val had his eye on for some time, but now that the armor was open, there was no further need for it. He quickly pulled open the plastic cover and slammed his fist on it.

Kim got an up-close and personal view of what he just did. Not only did all of the armor fall off, but several other guns were revealed. Unlike the ones that were overheated, these ones were able to track more than one target. Also, the copter now resembled a Hind more than an armored airborne tank.

She walked up to the edge and made eye contact with Val, staring at him for some time.

He sounded excited. _"Brace yourself!"_

This time, he quickly attacked with all the guns, forcing Kim to evade more quickly. Thankfully, the suit she was wearing was bulletproof, but that didn't prevent her from being sent back when one of the bullets hit her in the leg. It didn't penetrate the skin, although the blow would leave a bruise, and it was enough to send her skidding across the roof. Kim didn't allow this to stop her, as she fired a stinger as her body came to a stop.

Val was crazy, laughing on the speakers with the blow.

"_Nice shot!"_

Kim didn't care how crazy he was, only that this helicopter was going down.

Thankfully, she landed near Ron and grabbed another missile. It was strange – she thought she was starting to run low, but Ron appeared to have had the same number of missiles in Jen's backpack as he did when he was first knocked out. Strange. But nothing mattered now.

The only thing that did matter was Kim's determination to shoot the Hind down. This wasn't going to be like last time where Val escaped. She was going to shoot the plane down, jump onto it as it fell, grab Val, save herself with the grappling hook, and wait for the police to arrive. He wasn't going to get away this time. She was going to shoot him down and make sure justice is served.

And perhaps he was going to give her that chance. Just as Kim got back onto her feet, Val was well already on his way back, accompanied by a storm of bullets, ready to plow the road. He was coming too fast for Kim to react, and he passed her at full speed. The wind from the plane was enough to knock her down again, not to mention that the rooftop was starting to get slippery. Again, Kim refused to let the fall stop her, firing another missile at the plane.

Again, it was shaken violently. As she expected, he continued to laugh more through the loudspeaker.

"_Come on, Kim! The rush is becoming too much! Unleash your full potential! Show no mercy! Show me that you're actually capable of saving this world!"_

She didn't listen. She knew that if she did, his words would throw her off. He's done it before, and he'd do it again. The only thing that mattered was shooting him down, and she'd repeat the phrase in her head as long as she needed to. Again, another missile from the backpack, load it, fire it, and get ready for an onslaught of bullets.

After being struck again, Val flew in full force towards the building and firing the machine guns carelessly. This was starting to get Kim concerned as a bullet nearly hit Ron this time.

However, this very bullet – one of many - actually struck the energy tanks, but they didn't go off?

Val noticed the surprised look on Kim's face as he flew past her again.

"_Kim, you fool! Has anyone told you how _gullible_ you are?"_

Kim only grinded her teeth further as the plane started to turn, circling the building at full speed.

"_Oh, don't get me wrong, Kim, the contents of the tanks are _indeed_ flammable, but they won't go off without a thick fire. You'd better be careful, though. There's no telling when the bullets will make a spark from the concrete! Worse, the chemicals will spread thanks to all the rain on the roof! When it comes to killing, I'm more of the 'die-quickly-and-painlessly' type. I'd hate to see you burn a slow and painful death, Kim!"_

Again, Val's talking was met with a stinger missile. The outside of the plane was starting to smoke, and Val knew this by the screens inside the plane screaming at him.

He was no less calm than before.

"_Feisty, aren't we? You know, Kim, a recent study shows that boys 16-30 have shown an increasing interest and attraction in femme fatales such as yourself! You honestly thought your tough-girl image was _scaring_ off boys? How dense can you get?"_

Again, Kim's response was in the form of a missile. It didn't stop Val once he regained control of the Hind.

"_You know, I had my doubts about you and Stoppable, but dare I say it, I'm envious of him! Nothing better than a girlfriend who knows how to take names and kick ass! If it weren't for the sappy varsity-cheerleader-honor-roll-community-service bull, you might be the ideal woman! And guess what? You're legal now! You could've had anybody you wanted, but you were smart and went for someone you have known for ages over the top of the food chain in appearance, wealth and power. Good for you!"_

This time, Kim decided to accompany her stinger friend. Another missile, another explosion, and she'd talk.

"You know what, Val? I don't care about any of that! I just want to live a normal life like anyone else. I am who I am and no one can stop me from being that! Not you! Not anyone!"

Another blow from a missile, and the plane was starting to show a loss of control. It wasn't going to shut Val up, though.

"_Well said, Kimberly Anne! Nicely done. I would have written that down for future reference, but there's only one problem! You're not in control of your destiny! Just wait, soon everything will change, soon you will lose everything you cherish, and that's something not you or anyone else can change! They'll come and ruin your life as they did mine! Think what you will, I know you're naïve like that, but just you wait! You don't know the truth of the world, not with your blindness! Stoppable already knows this, as does Ferno and Yori. Do you know why? Because instead of wasting their time on useless extracurricular activities in high school, which make you no less of a tool than that of 'the real world', they took their time discovering what this world - people, humanity, social groups and cliques – were really all about."_

"And what would that be?"

"_No one is in control of their destiny, Kim. Not those you love, not those you hate, not those you never heard about, not me, and definitely not you. You may think otherwise, but you're only being controlled and manipulated by the lies. If you took more time to observe the people in the world than be concerned with your affection for Ron or your own perfectionism in everything you do, you would be able to easily see this. Not only is your belief system a result of proper manipulation, but what you perceive yourself to be, what you are and who you are deep inside! You're not the well-known and feared teenage heroine who saves the world. You don't have what it takes to be in the field at all. You are indeed powerful, I must say, but you lack so much to truly save the world from its inevitable future. We live in an unholy world of lies controlled by hypocrites, and you're just another puppet in their society."_

Kim realized that Val did have at least one point. Ron was the one who tried to understand people while he was teased and thrown around in high school, since he didn't use all the time in the world to do homework or be concerned with the next cheerleading regionals. Until they were dating, she thought Ron did nothing at home but watch wrestling and play video games.

"_If you think that you're in control of who you are and the choices you will make, why are you here, then? Is it the sake of duty? To do the right thing? Or is it for your own personal dark retribution? Hah, some hero you are… You're nothing more than a little girl armed with a weapon! You're not really the tough heroine you try _so_ hard to portray yourself as… and I thought you got over your insecurities…"_

What was he getting at with this?

"_It's not your free will that allows you to fight crime, Kim. Perhaps you tell yourself it's the need to help people, but when it comes to world threats, you only do it because it's expected out of you! It's not the mentality of a hero. Also, real heroes fight people solely for the sake of doing the right thing. This entire exercise was done just to prove that, and I can see the results are in. Look at those vengeful and hateful eyes, Kim. I can see the bloodlust just by the vessels in your eyes. Even I know there's nothing right in murder, and you have every intent on sending me to hell. Heroes can _never_ get personal with friends or villains. Do you know why? Because it interferes with their duty, they forget who they are and what they stand for. Oh, but I have seen _so_ much of that in this entire operation… poor woman."_

Kim didn't even acknowledge the points he made. "What's your point?"

"_You're not cut out for this line of duty. Not only are you weak, prone of forgetting who you are and what you stand for, but you also fail to see the truth of everything. You live in some kind of little delusional world where you think you're in control of your destiny and that we live in some kind of 'free' world. The truth is, Kim, heroes are used. In this day and age, they are no longer seen as saviors, but they are just tools of all governments. You may think otherwise because you're more of a 'freelance' heroine, but the truth of the matter is, your name and information went into every single government computer the day you saved that CuddleBuddy collector. Now, you think you go out and save the world because it's by your choice, but the truth of the matter is, it's staged, and not by those you fight against. You're already being used and you honestly had no idea… poor fool."_

Kim narrowed her eyes in confusion.

Val sighed._ "Blind woman… If you still want to continue what you consider a normal life, pack up, leave, and go home. Oh, that's right… once you're in, you can _never_ escape. Then again, you might not even last. Even if you somehow avoid this, perhaps you'll turn out like every other hero… eventually succumbing to the inevitable by becoming the very thing you've fought all your life against. Shego wasn't the only hero who went from good to bad. Just one of many… and you two had so much in common, no wonder you saw each others as rivals…"_

Kim just shook her head. Surely this was just another way of him to throw her off.

"_Oh, that's right…"_ he continued. _"You don't trust people you consider enemies, do you? Not surprising… those who need advice refuse to seek it. Too true, and too bad, Kimberly Anne, I was hoping I was doing you a favor!"_

Kim just sighed as she loaded another missile and aimed it at the cockpit.

"Val… Shut up."

She held the weapon single-handedly and fired it. Another hard blow, but not enough to take the plane down. Almost as if preparing something, Val lifted the plane high into the air.

Kim took the time to shove in another missile and load it. "Whether something else is at work, I'll find out. As for you, I think you have other things to worry about."

Val just laughed at the threat. _"You'll eat those words, Kim. I'm sure of it. But you're not choosing a good time to be naïve and stubborn. Personally, I love that image, but it's clear to me how much you're faking it. It's not who you really are. Knowing that you're trying to be a regular girl in a regular world… That act only works on those who are free of insecurities! But for you, it's so visible it's embarrassing. I can see who you truly are even with that Stinger, Kim! You're no legendary professional; you're just a little girl with another toy! That tough face on you doesn't tell me anything other than that you're still insecure and still weak!"_

Kim scoffed. "What, like yourself?"

Val scoffed as well, mimicking her. _"At least I'm not hiding who I really am! And at least I'm not living some second life! Believe me; I know what I'm talking about! You're not the only teen hero around here, Kim!"_

Kim had to hold back her laughter. Val, a teen hero? Yeah, right.

* * *

Val threw the speakerphone in the back, frustrated. Kim wouldn't hear him.

"Women… they sure _love_ to listen to what you have to say…" he spoke sarcastically, "Well, I guess I'll have to set you up straight, too."

If there was one way to piss off Val, it was ignoring what he had to say. Regardless if you were a friend or enemy, he knew of events to come, and would often warn people of their future. This was one of the things he loved and hated in high school. Sometimes he would tell people, at least those who didn't hate him, about things they could do to get back on track on life.

One memory came to mind. One girl pestered him at lunch to read her future, and wouldn't leave him alone until he told her. After Val made her buy him a soda, he allowed for it. So Valia versus a girl who he didn't think he had a chance with, but he knew what she was made of. Using tarot cards to make it appear as if that was the method he used, he told her what to expect.

"_On the end of your job interview, don't go out for a smoke. The guy's going to come out of the door and see you."_

The girl just shrugged and thanked him. She pestered him at the same place and time a week later, thanking him for the help. She probably would've asked him to hang out, if not for the fact that she was dating the quarterback, and keeping herself low so that she wouldn't be seen with an outcast like Val. What she didn't tell him was that since she got the job, she quit smoking. Oh, but he knew, though.

That was a nice moment, happening much earlier than his encounter with a girl that would drive him insane, and because of the cleansing, he told himself she was the first.

But Kim Possible was too hard-headed to heed the advice from someone she considered a megalomaniacal freak. Well, add her to the list of many. Val didn't even give a damn that he was about to get shot down. He always welcomed death's sweet embrace, but it never happened.

He knew that he wasn't going to die, and neither was Kim. As much as he enjoyed it, though, fighting Kim was also like fighting a bad memory. Kim may have been one of a kind in terms of appearance – red hair, cute face, shining emerald green eyes, …excellent build, …cute butt, but Val knew of many girls that shared a similar physical trait of Kim's. For example, Jennifer Ferno has the same eyes as she does, if not for the slight hue difference. He kept trying to deny the last two, but trying to be a gentlemen wasn't easy since 'her'.

But the person that came to mind… he did _not_ want to remember the name. Normally, the name would haunt him, but ever since his last battle with Kim, he couldn't remember it. He could see her face, but there wasn't a name to go with it. Right now he preferred it this way.

That's the exchange of memory – you could remember a lot, but you would forget a lot, too.

And the hell he had in high school? That was after what _really_ happened. He wasn't being fully honest with Kim on living a second life.

At the thought of his real past, he came to a conclusion, one that made him chuckle.

Even if Kim could kill him, she wouldn't. Not at least until she knew every detail of what was going on. The Bio-Mechs, the nukes, his involvement with Fred Elurt, the Judgments, and all the hell Ron went through. More important, the real motive behind everything. But that wasn't a question he could answer, at least not in the way Kim would intend.

Besides, he was having fun. Riding on a smoking helicopter would be scary for some people, but it was like a roller coaster ride as a kid. Strange logic, but it got his blood going. The sugar high was long over, but that didn't ease anything. The Hind wouldn't last, but that was a part of all of this.

Being shot down was just another part of the plan.

Then the fun would really begin.

* * *

"Quiet again, Val?"

Val suddenly sounded relaxed. _"Oh, you know, I'm just having a little… guy time. Just because I'm riding in a Hind that's smoking and ready to explode doesn't mean I can't chill and relax."_

This didn't hinder Kim's impression of Val one bit. He was a lunatic. She told herself she could do the same thing, be calm in a fiery vehicle, but honestly she couldn't. She'd get off the darn thing the second she could. It wasn't because she was a coward, but cautious. That's what she told herself, anyway.

Kim was baffled. Again, how on earth can he be so relaxed when he's piloting a helicopter that's about ready to explode?

She became more baffled by the tune Valia was now whistling over the loudspeaker. Was that her theme he was whistling to?

Yes, Kim finally got herself a theme song after Ron constantly bothered her to get one. It was just a coincidence that one of the people she saved was a girl who was getting started in the music industry. As usual, she thanked Kim for saving her life, but was immediately interrupted by Ron to make a theme song for Kim. Kim protested, but the girl liked the idea. Later, Kim was sent a CD in the mail. When she listened to it, she was pretty embarrassed. One would usually think their name in a song would be cool, but Kim thought it was too much. Of course, Ron loved the idea, but was disappointed that he wasn't mentioned anywhere, since it was his idea to begin with. But Kim convinced him that Ron could do his own theme, and he immediately liked the idea.

But Ron being Ron, he was too lazy to develop his song and just used the Naked Mole Rap as his theme song.

Another thing that came to mind since Val wasn't being serious anymore; Ron should've woken up by now, shouldn't he?

Val was able to see this from the cockpit. _"You would think he would've woken up by now, wouldn't you? But we've only been doing this for twenty minutes. People usually don't wake up from an explosion for over a week, months even. You're not going to mope about him now, are you, Kim?"_

"Moments like these, you remind me of Bonnie._"_

"_Ah yes, the only relative of mine who came to my funeral, surprisingly."_

Kim scratched her head. "I still can't believe you're related."

Valia watched in amusement as Kim made a lot of bizarre faces, clearly trying to think of theories of how Bonnie Rockwaller and Valia Ryan weren't related. No wonder Bonnie messed with her so much, because she was fun to watch.

Sure, he could've just mentioned Cousin Larry, since the difference between them was no less bizarre than him and Bonnie. If Kim was baffled, she was cute and amusing to watch, even if she was armed with a Stinger. But if she was too hardcore in the drama department, the tears were a pain to watch.

To him, if he was still the jerk he was back when he met Kim the first time, he would've attacked her. But no, that wasn't his style, not for who he really was.

But Kim reached the conclusion shortly after. The difference between herself and Larry, Ron and Sean, Val and Bonnie, and Drakken and Motor Ed were all quite bizarre.

"Hmm. Cousin Larry and I are like, total opposites, and same with Ron and his cousin Sean, not much with Motor Ed and Drakken but no less freaky… I guess it makes sense for you and Bonnie to be no different as cousins."

"_Big duh, Kim! Okay, now that you've figured it out, break time's over!"_

Kim blinked. "Break time?"

"_Well, since you're just going to stand there and not going to shoot me down, I decided to take a break! You'd be surprised how exhausting it is to control this thing."_

Kim could easily tell he wasn't being serious and just toying with her more, but he was right, she didn't shoot him down.

She took the moment to reload the stinger, but when she pointed it up back to where the Hind was…

It was gone.

She turned her head in all directions, even somersaulted onto the stairway building, but he was nowhere in sight.

An eerie silence shrouded the area. The rain was starting to die down, and she couldn't hear any of the helicopter's rotors. Just the wind.

'_Where'd he go…?'_ she thought to herself. This could have been an opportune moment to grab Ron and put him further out of harm's way, but just as the thought crossed Kim's mind, the Hind resurfaced from below and fired at her, almost catching her off guard.

"_I seeeeee yooooou!"_ the pilot taunted while laughing.

Kim was growing weary of this fight, and the decided to risk the grappling hook. Just as the guns stopped firing, she pulled it out and fired it. The hook latched onto one of the wings, but not before the wire snapped from the guns.

"_You didn't have a chance!"_ Val cried with disgust.

In the duration of the fight, Kim was growing suspicious of what was really going on. At first, when she and Ron found out that Val was well alive, a stroke of fear almost went through her spine, as she remembered him to be ruthless in combat, and with a helicopter, she was sure he would completely blow up the roof. Sure, she could've dove off, but there were still gun cameras around the building, and unless Val deactivated them - as she was certain he placed them there - she wouldn't make it out alive, even with the bullet-proof gear. It could have been the perfect trap, but Val was just toying with her the whole time. Everyone else wouldn't hesitate to make her go boom.

He was up to something… and killing her wasn't exactly it, not unless she played by his rules. Usually keeping Kim Possible alive was the worst thing most villains did. Unless Valia was an idiot - and Kim was well aware that he had a higher IQ and GPA (barely) than she did - he was anything but.

Something was different about him, but she couldn't place her finger on why. Maybe it was the fact that instead of speaking in a near monotone voice like before, he was shouting with extreme energy and loving every second of the adrenaline rush of the fight. There was so much power and hatred in it, but like before, he didn't sound as young as everyone else she knew, and he was no older than she was.

She was also pretty sure that Val wasn't a bio-mech, syntho-drone or a clone, and it was really him. She had her suspicions about whether he was really dead when Yori told her that it was Sensei that killed him. But Val probably couldn't have stood a chance against even him, could he? Well, even if he did, she was no longer surprised by anything. Everything she believed never existed was thrown right back at her endless times. The syntho-drone production hadn't ceased, she was involved in a mission that involved the abduction of nuclear weapons, there was a huge military weapon prepared for mass production and destruction, Ron was infested with a death weapon in his bloodstream, he should have died in the hangar, Nev's lab spoke for itself, and to top all of it off, Val was still alive and behind all of it. Elurt was just a tool.

All of this to engage in one last fight with her. Everything was just a distraction to get her pumped up for this.

Man, he really must have had a _lot_ of time on his hands to pull this one off.

"_You know, Kim, if you're not going to kill me, I may just as well kill you right here and now. Shame."_

While every other bad guy usually loved to deliver the line, Val didn't sound excited one bit. This only allowed Kim to grow more suspicious. Something about this fight just didn't make much sense. Why was holding back? Did he actually _want_ her to shoot him down? She wouldn't be surprised of that either, since he was suicidal in their previous encounter.

Then again, there are thoughts you _really_ wish you never thought at all. Sometimes it's best to fight now and develop theories later.

She watched as Val somehow managed to tilt the plane downward so that the nose was parallel to the floor of the roof, and he begun his onslaught. The only hiding place now was inside the stairway building, but even that had its share of bullet-holes. He didn't even concern himself with what he was shooting anymore, not that she could hide behind the energy tanks, either. She didn't think it was possible to fly a helicopter when it's flying perpendicular to the ground, but again, her sense of reality deceived her.

Now she saw that he put her in a desperate situation. He was still moving around, and the only shelter was the roof of the stairs. This would easily trigger anything to go off.

There was no time left. She had to shoot the Hind down. But she didn't want to run into some bullets or be on a collision course with them, so she kept her eyes on Ron and watched the bullets fly. Miraculously, they weren't hitting him, but some were pretty close. Against her hopes, the bullets weren't going by a pattern, usually something baddies go by. There wasn't going to be an opening, and Val wasn't firing all the guns at once. He was being careful not to overheat them for some reason. She was still going to risk it, and even though her suit was bulletproof, there was no telling if they would strike her head and instantly finish her off. This wasn't a battle she wanted to die in.

Something caught Kim's eye, though. One of the bullets that hit the edge of the roof let out a spark, but luckily it didn't cause a fire. It could be the first of many if she didn't do anything about it.

She didn't care about herself anymore; she was going to risk it. Without any thought she dove out off the stairs as far as she could, allowing the empty bullet shells and water carry her across the roof. She made it all the way to Ron, and if not for her mission suit the water around her would have been red. She quickly grabbed a missile from the backpack and fired it at the plane, and went for the next missile immediately after.

Kim was hell-bent on shooting down the Hind, not even keeping count of how many missiles she used. She just grabbed one after another without even looking or thinking.

Well, the latter wasn't entirely true. She had no idea that Ron was carrying the exact same number of missiles from the very beginning. She could pull one out and there would still be ten in the backpack. It didn't make sense to her, but if it worked to her advantage, she didn't give a crap. Nothing was real anymore as it was.

Val was impressed. Kim managed to make it through and get the motivation again to fulfill her duty, and just as he predicted, she was getting a dark thrill out of it. She was completely losing herself as she fired missile after missile, making the Hind appear like a car driven by a five year old in a junkyard. Dented everywhere, smoking, broken glass, damaged weapons, but the missiles stayed intact.

Her eyes were full of rage the whole time. Even a sick smile managed to find a way to her face as she got her revenge.

Kim finally stopped when she realized something; if any of her missiles collided with those on the Hind, she'd blow up the plane, and the first place it would fall would be right on top of her.

Then it hit her; that was Val's plan all along.

But she was too late. The plane was high in the air, and Val was losing control. The helicopter was starting to spin faster than its blades, was tilting up and down faster than a roller coaster, and sparks burst out faster than puberty.

"_Well, well well, Kimberly Anne!"_ Val cried. _"It looks like you've finally figured out what I was really after! You went overboard with your adrenaline again, walking straight into a trap!"_

The Hind rose itself high above the building, and it was ready for a final nosedive.

"_Silly woman! You set yourself up!"_

The plane started dropping at full speed, and Kim noticed that all of the missiles remaining on it cocked. She realized what was about to happen: Val was going to use the explosion of the plane, combined with the missiles and energy tanks to create a massive chain reaction, blowing them all straight to hell.

In fear and shock, she dropped the stinger and went straight for Ron. In desperation, she managed to knock off Jen's backpack, grabbed her BF, and went straight for the stairs. She couldn't take two steps before Val yelled at her one last time.

"_FARE THEE WELL, KIMBERLY ANNE POSSIBLE! YOU WANTED A GRAND FINALE, AND YOU'VE GOT IT!"

* * *

_

Yori succumbed to her knees with the sight she just saw, followed immediately by commotion from the city below. Everyone looked on in fear as the roof of the Tower was completely obliterated. The explosion was huge, but to everyone's surprise, policemen, SWAT, ambulances and firefighters were not immediately on the scene. In fact, they were nowhere to be seen.

She couldn't even blink her eyes. Every nerve in her body went completely numb, especially those in her head. It didn't help that people in the city were already drawing their own conclusions.

"I hope someone wasn't up there. There's no way in hell they could survive that." A line said word-for-word by several people.

Sirens started to go off, but there were no vehicles to go with them. No helicopters, cars, trucks, anything.

It would take a few minutes for the cloud of fire to cease.

The storm started to get much worse, perhaps a bad omen.

But she knew it wasn't over.

It was just the beginning of the end.


	20. 19: Precedence

**Chapter 19: Precedence**

_Heh, with some of the reviews I was getting afraid some people didn't know, even though it was obvious. This chapter's actually been split into two due to the length. Believe me, every single thing brought up will be explained in detail by the end of this._

_Think you know Val? Think you know why he really allowed Kim and Ron to escape at the end of the previous story? Guess again. This story is going to take an **extremely** serious turn because of this. My warning here is if you choose to read, DO NOT take any of this serious to heart. It's a fiction story after all. I didn't write it for people to agree or disagree._

_And my apologies to any female readers out there, as well as those who expect action. There will be nothing but flashbacks and dialogue for these next two chapters._

_

* * *

_

Everything was a blur. It wasn't darkness… some orange light and moving shapes … none of it clear. The sound of everything echoed…

Flames… Rain…

Footsteps…?

Then a nice taste of H2O all over your face. All of Kim's five senses finally started coming back.

The first thing she saw was a lone figure standing, wearing a trenchcoat with burnt holes all over it. His back was facing her, but he was also taking the moment to let the rain soak him, being absorbed by the scenery. As Kim scanned the areas with her eyes alone, she could see that she was back inside the building on the last floor, but the roof had been completely decimated by the Hind, which stood in flames and with a bunch of scrap metal scattered everywhere. A huge chunk of the roof was blown off, and it seems only the wall near the stairs and the opposite were left, including the ceiling portion of those areas. Because of this, Kim could see that she was suspended in mid-air.

"So, you're finally awake."

The figure in the middle then turned around and faced Kim, eye to eye.

If Kim had her doubts, she could now confirm everything. It was definitely Val, but she couldn't say he was looking better than ever. In fact, he appeared far worse. Other than a burnt trenchcoat being a bad fashion statement, especially when you don't wear a shirt under, she could see that any areas of skin had various cuts, some which were bleeding. He didn't seem to be bothered by it for a second, and if Kim didn't know any better, she could have sworn that he enjoyed the look.

She would have spoken, but a sour taste was clogging her vocals. She coughed up a bit of clogged blood, probably from a nosebleed.

"Val… you're alive… and… you survived?"

Knowing that he was flying a helicopter was one thing, but to see him in the flesh again brought back a severe feeling of nostalgia. Not to mention she remembered exactly what happened. No one could have survived that kind of impact, not even…

"You should be more surprised about the fact that you survived, K. Not exactly without a scratch, but impressive nonetheless."

Kim couldn't see much of herself due to the angle she was hanging from, but now that she thought about it, she felt really cold. Too many breezes than her cheerleading outfit gave off. She had to pop her neck to regain control over it, due to some awkward stiff feeling in it. Now that she could see all of her surroundings, she could see that she too was covered in cuts, but not as many as her captor. Not only that, but she was stripped of her mission suit, wearing nothing but a normal black tank top with tight pants – what she wore under the gear. Of course, these also had burnt areas and rips, but nothing revealing. None of her usual gadgets were on her, either. No utility belt, no Kimmunicator, nothing in her pockets, not even her rocket shoes. Although if asked, she would admit that they were softer and more comfortable. Otherwise, she was quick to grow uncomfortable of the feeling.

She was used to wearing everything in such situations, and she almost felt completely naked without them. She could only imagine how she looked in the mirror.

But then, someone else came to mind. Ron. He was to her left, being suspended in the air by sharp wires and still unconscious. It was clear to Kim that that was how she was also being suspended. Thankfully though, Ron seemed to be in the best condition out of all of them.

Val scoffed. "Oh, him? Last time I checked he was alive. I'm pretty sure his pet was also knocked out by the much earlier explosion, but then again, what do I know?"

Kim tried to stretch to get a feel for what she was in, but she instantly felt pain.

"You and Stoppable are being suspended in the air by razor-sharp wires. Pull on it too much and you can say goodbye to all of your limbs. You'll be fine as long as you don't move too much, and by 'too much', I mean 'at all'."

Kim had a hard time getting the energy to talk. She felt like hell, and she could've sworn that her entire body was bruised. Just then, Ron starting coughing.

"Hmm! I guess he did survive as well. Impressive."

Kim hated to see Ron cough up blood, but it too clogged his throat, kind of like a blood clot up your nose when having a bloody nose.

He didn't even bother opening his eyes. "Oh man, KP, I just had the weirdest dream. You took on a freaking Hind!"

Well, at least one of them was energetic, even if he too was stripped of his mission suit, weapons and equipment, except for the bandana. Unlike Kim, he wasn't wearing a shirt under his suit. Bare-chested with a bandana and pants, and for some reason he still had his gloves on. Kim could have sworn she had seen this appearance before, but couldn't remember it.

"Ron, that wasn't a dream."

Ron groaned. "Oh, great, since the fight went out with a bang, we're dead then."

Kim sighed. "Ron, open your eyes."

The second he did, he almost screamed at the sight. Sure, being a few feet away from a demolished flaming helicopter and seeing the middle portion of the roof gone looked cool in the action movies, but not here. Then he made eye contact with their host.

"VAL!"

The only person in the room standing on their feet chortled. "It's good to see you too. Welcome back to the land of the living, Stoppable. So Team Possible has successfully made it out alive from such a massive explosion. Magnificent…"

Ron sighed. "Out of all the villains I've wanted to remember my name, why'd it have to be you?"

"Would you prefer if I didn't?"

"Good point."

Ron was about to tug on the wires, but Kim gave him the warning.

"Ron, don't. Sharper than barb-wire if you do."

"Oh. Lame," he quickly replied without any emotion. With the tone in his voice, it was clear this wasn't the first time.

Val took a few steps forward with his eyes on Kim. "Well, this feeling is quite nostalgic, isn't it? Has it really been three months? Or are we nearing four? Oh, that's right; it's been two months, fourteen days and nineteen hours…"

The two just glared at him.

"You two can relax. I'll snap the wires once you're ready, but don't pull too hard. In case you want to risk the pain and try to escape, I've already rigged the place with explosives, and too much pressure will set them off. This time, I won't be responsible for your deaths. Well, not entirely, anyway."

Kim grunted. "Val! What's going on? Why are you doing this? What are you really after?"

"Why am I doing this and what am I really after? Hah. Just what I would expect from you, Kim. Cut straight to the chase and skip the details, when you have no idea how to sum everything up. I'll tell you when you're ready to find out. Right now your minds are completely unstable from before, so shut up and calm down. Anger doesn't help one think clearly."

"Enough with the lectures, Val!" Kim interrupted.

"Thank you very much for proving my point, Miss Kimberly Anne, and I thought you were the patient kind."

Kim sighed, trying to get a grip on herself. "I don't think you went through all this trouble just to kill Elurt and us," she replied calmly, although it was obvious that it was forced.

"Oh? What makes you so certain?"

"I really don't think someone would go through nuclear missiles, walking death tanks, nanomachines, and bio-mechs just to get us. There had to be a much, much easier way than that. Even if Drakken wanted to, he wouldn't go through all of this."

"Maybe I don't like the easy way. Don't you remember, Kim? I'm like you," Val smiled. "I _enjoy_ challenges."

Kim groaned. "I'm nothing like you, Val."

He just snorted. "That's what you think… You really remind me of myself in my much earlier days."

Ron coughed. "Okay, dude, seriously. We checked out the records and everything about your 'older days'. We know some girl broke your heart and that ruined your high school social career, and you graduated early with some ridiculously high GPA. We also know you've got some mad martial arts skillz and all, but we don't need anymore stories."

Val was silent upon hearing this, and there was a brief yet uncomfortable moment of silence between them. It appeared as if Ron got Val in a weak spot, until he started letting out some strange noise. At first, it sounded quiet, almost like crying, but abruptly burst out into malicious laughter.

"Hah! Is that what the records indicate? My, my, my… Maybe I should tell you that I'm a consecutive winner of Mexico's chupacabra-eating contest. Believe that as well?"

"Half the story?" Kim asked with a puzzled face. "What are you talking about? We had GJ find your profile, and it's all in my Kimmunicator!"

Val cleared his throat. "Ahem… _was_ in the Kimmunicator. Tell me something, K, do you blindly believe anything documented as truth or fact?"

"What?"

"What Nevren told you about me, what the GJ profiles consider my 'official profile', Nevren's story about the bio-mechs…?"

"You're not saying that it's all a big lie?"

"Lie? No, not quite. Rather… inaccurate information. And my GJ profile? If you remember correctly, Kim, I'm officially dead. And if it wasn't apparent already, I'm quite alive."

"Dude, KP and I have seen everything," Ron interrupted. "But I gotta know: How the heck did you resurrect yourself?"

Kim would've slapped her forehead. "Ron, don't you see? He never died in the first place!"

"I dunno, KP, I've seen enough on this mission to think otherwise. Besides, he's kinda got a Dracula thing going there with that 17th century style coat," Ron protested.

"Dracula?" Val asked, scanning himself with his eyes. Upon further inspection, Ron had a point.

"And every Dracula guy I know never dies, no matter how many times you kill them!" Ron continued.

"Ron, you've been playing too much Zombie Mayhem."

"Zombie Mayhem doesn't have Dracula."

"Castlevania, then."

"Eh… you're probably right."

Val silently chuckled to himself. It shouldn't have been a surprise that since Kim was _still_ left out of Ron and Felix's gaming when they got together, she tried to become familiar with everything that Ron played. She sometimes tried to play some in Ron's room after missions, usually when Ron was too exhausted to do anything else. She was far from a gamer, though. Silly woman.

"Okay, KP, we agree on one thing at least, that he's not dead." Ron finished.

"Right," she agreed, "but this I _gotta_ hear."

By the time the two returned their attention to Val, he was repeatedly cracking his knuckles just by stretching out his fingers over and over.

"Are you two done? Regardless, you bought the cover-up story, didn't you? Blindly listening to the news and taking every word of it as fact."

* * *

Warp back to late April of the same year. 

Val had just forced Kim and Ron to escape, forcing them to leave while trapping himself in his underground lair. The water was rising, the walls and ceiling were falling apart, and Val only had a right hand to go on. The room was flooding, but Val didn't care at all. He wanted a death wish, and he got it, but not before what he wanted – a final duel with Team Possible. The water consumed him, and everything faded to black shortly afterward.

But the next thing he knew, he was spitting bubbles in the lake. Frustrated that death escaped him yet again, he tried to swim to the bottom in hopes that he could still be found dead in the rubble of the place he won off eBay, but unfortunately for him, his body just found its way back to the surface, including another.

Val was pretty upset that he was still alive, but not surprised in any way. He figured it would be a good idea to get out of here before the authorities came, but before he was about to make his escape, he found Kim and Ron near the shore, both with their faces underwater. As much as he wanted to fight it, he couldn't leave the two alone.

He grabbed them and tossed them to the shore, not realizing that they were landed to each other.

Instead, he looked onto the clear skies above. "Continue to live on, my friends… we shall meet again…"

With that, he tossed the seaweed-infested body he found in the woods under a series of placed logs. He made his escape before the helicopters arrived.

* * *

"Back up!" Ron cried. "Are you saying that _you_ saved us… again?" 

Val scoffed. "You're surprised? I wasn't going to let you be killed off by the waters of Upperton Lake. If someone was going to kill you down there, it was going to be me. I'm not going to allow nature to steal my glory! And actually, that's not the real reason at all."

* * *

For Valia, to his advantage, most of the police and cleanup crew were around only for the lair wreckage and to pick up Kim and Ron. They didn't even search the nearby woods. But he got an idea. For ages, he wanted to start a new life and leave his old one behind. But this way, he could fake his death. Upperton Lake was a place where people would often throw parties, including frats and sororities. So really, the story behind the corpse he found was that of a frat boy who had too much to drink, fell in the lake, and drowned. It was one of many bodies down there, all killed by the same circumstances. 

He wasn't surprised that no one realized the unfortunate soul was missing, but then again, the corpse had been underwater for ages. You couldn't recognize anything.

He realized that if he wanted people to think he was dead, he had to do something.

Parts of Nev's battle suit was still on him, and he realized it was foolish to merge the thing onto his body.

Stupid teenager, he thought to himself.

So, it was a ten process to rip the remains of the battle suit off, and it was pretty much torture. What he did was put the various pieces of his skin and the suit all over the body. The doctors would take the easy way out of trying to determine who the body belongs to, and the body had its blood drained already. He was quite astonished to see that the left hand was also missing, but it was not much more than a skeleton wrapped in seaweed.

"Poor bastard. You're more useful dead than alive."

He didn't have any pity for the dead, only because of how he lived and died. To Val, this puppet didn't achieve anything worth remembering.

He buried the body under some mud so it would appear that it had been there for days. If they took a blood sample from the suit, it would be his blood, and the news would consider him dead in a few weeks.

He survived the procedure, but he was going to suffer extreme blood loss if he didn't do anything about it immediately. He was able to save the stealth camouflage, the only device that didn't overload on the suit, only because it was covered in plastic and encased in rubber. Since it still worked, he strapped it on, hid himself, and made his way through the woods and past everyone. He managed to get a ride on the ambulance with Kim inside.

Once at the hospital, everyone was scrambling to get equipment for Kim and Ron. People were on the phones contacting their families, people were running into each other, and Val could've sworn he saw an old man run off with a ration. Fortunately for Val, he was able to crawl on the ceiling like a spider and make his way to a room with several bandages. The place was in too much of a rush for anyone to notice his blood stains in various areas.

He wasn't astounded that Kim and Ron were placed together in the same room when everything was said and done, and their families were already on their way to see their children. They had made it out safely.

So he would be officially dead in a matter of weeks, and he couldn't be seen when they discovered the body. So Val took some more equipment from the hospital, and with the stealth camouflage, he could go anywhere.

A trip around the world sounded wonderful. The electric shock from the fight revived who he truly was, and not the asshole teenager the two fought earlier. He figured it would be a great way to start over.

* * *

"Whoopie…" Kim sarcastically remarked. "That explains the body, but not your sudden change to save us after the fight." 

"Oh come on, Kim…" Val protested. "Didn't you two notice anything… _unusual_ when our fight was over?"

"You know, I did." Ron answered, "I figured it just made something in your brain snap – almost like memory loss. Shock therapy?"

"Oh, come on, Ron. You're thinking of Spider-Man 2 again where Doc Ock gets electrocuted and he's suddenly back to normal." Kim countered.

"Um, not really, KP, even though we watched it a lot before."

The same went for movies, too. The two had become avid movie-goers since getting together, and Kim didn't know before that most of Ron's money went to DVDs.

Val let out a small chuckle. "Actually, Kim, he's very close."

Ron continued with the next thought that came to mind. "Yori told us that Sensei killed you. I mean, you're obviously not dead, but what was that about?"

"Well…"

* * *

Traveling the world sounded like fun at first, but there was more of a personal motive involved. As the days went by, Val got depressed, not having a purpose in life anymore, and he thought it would be nice, but it was anything but. He took a trip to Hawaii, and it would've been nice to join a hula class or something to take his mind off things, but he clearly wouldn't be accepted with his current physical appearance. 

He didn't want to go back into who he was, or go back into the past, or what he remembered was the real past. Life was about going forward, not backward.

That was that. No more Kim Possible, no more Ron Stoppable, no more of anybody, except for the one he needed to seek guidance from.

Sensei.

Valia had been to several martial arts schools in his life, and Yamanuchi had stood out among them. He was nine when his grandfather took him there, but he never revealed how he knew of its location, let alone existence. He would be trained, and because he was unaware of the things to come, he did rather well. However, he was not signed up for the lifetime plan that most of the students were signed up for. He spent a year there, and he remembered Sensei to be a strict but caring teacher.

It took him four weeks before he finally made his way to Japan, only by walking across half the country and sneaking in on a boat to Hawaii and then another to Japan. By now authorities would have found and identified the body. The perfect exit.

He wore little more than a dark cloak as to hide himself, other than the stealth camouflage. His face had a few bruises, but it was the only portion of his body that wasn't affected by the removal of the suit. The boat ride across the pacific was what he needed, let alone a day in Hawaii. Peace, quiet, and tranquility. The social life of the trip didn't seem to interest him at all. He didn't care about making friends who were rollerblading through the city regularly, and he didn't respond to any of the girls winking at him. Every girl he knew had a negative impact on his life, and he wasn't going to allow for it to happen here as well.

But now he stood before the front entrance gates of Yamanuchi, taken aback by the fact that nine years later he still knew of its location. He started to get a bad feeling about coming here, but he was not one to back down from any fear. Reason being?

The school appeared empty. He remembered the sights of students always practicing their techniques, sparring against each other or talking to each other on breaks. Then again, that was nine years ago when the majority of the students were young. Surely Sensei changed his teaching methods as they grew older, wiser, and stronger. But now it appeared to be void of any life. None of the leaves blew from the trees, even. The school stood in dead silence.

But before long, the wind quickly shifted direction. No, a small figure revealed himself.

"Ryan-kun, you have returned," an old voice greeted.

It was none other than Sensei.

Valia felt honored in his presence, bowing and soon kneeling before his former master.

"Sensei, I have returned in dire need of your guidance."

Sensei sighed in pity at his former student.

"I am afraid I cannot be of any assistance," the old man answered without any hint of emotion.

Valia suddenly went bitter, almost biting his lips, "What…?"

Sensei stood firm in his position, not appearing to be intimidated by his former student's tone.

"I said that I can not be of any assistance. I have not stood out here for more than five seconds and already can I see the anger deep within your soul. I can see what you have done to others to fulfill your own selfish ambitions. Your skills, which have grown unquestionably superior to many other students worldwide, was meant to be used for the good of mankind, not for your own selfish desires, and not to kill for the sake of what you consider good. My guidance will not be enough for a soul so dark and full of hatred as yours. Even if I manage to succeed, you will eventually fall from the light into the darkness once again. Your mind is far too dangerous to further train. I am sorry."

Valia sighed, but he couldn't hold himself from who he had become. "Sensei, please… I am not going to offer you a choice on this…" he threatened. Then he realized this was exactly why Sensei rejected his wish, but it was too late now. He hadn't been sane for some time, and today was no different.

"Leave," Sensei ordered him.

"No…" His inner rage was starting to possess him once again, and got into a fighting stance, "You _will_ continue to train me, old man."

"I do not think so."

The winds started to pick up as both stood firm. Quickly, despite all the pain in his body and lack of sanity in his head, Valia launched himself upward and went straight towards his teacher.

If the old man wouldn't teach him, he would have to convince him.

Sensei was powerful, but to Val, his own abilities were unquestionable even to the likes of Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. Surely he would give the old man a hard time.

In fact, it was quite the other way around. Sensei stood firm in his position, and before Sensei's and Val's noses made contact, Sensei thrusted a palm straight into his opponent's face, sending him flying straight into the wall next to the gates, almost demolishing it and sending Ryan right through it. Shock and confusion ran through his mind. Val made the mistake in thinking his mentor's age would work against him and slow him down, but Sensei was no less powerful than he remembered him.

Sensei took a few steps forward, just enough to see if he was still conscious. "I am going to tell you one more time. Leave." he softly demanded.

Val shook off the debris from his shoulders as he rose again to face his mentor, "Make me…"

Again, Val jumped straight at him, but he left himself wide open the exact same way as before, and Sensei unleashed an endless barrage of punches to his gut, at least breaking a few of his ribs before finishing it off with a spinning roundhouse kick, sending Val slamming against one of the supporting poles of the bridge.

"Please," Sensei spoke with concern, "I do not wish to bring you any further harm. Leave and do not come back."

Val got up, still firm in his mood, "With all due respect, Sensei… I don't take orders from anyone anymore. Not even you."

Sensei merely turned around and made way for the gates. Depending on how you view things, someone turning against their back on you is an insult, and that's exactly what Valia took it as. Despite his teachings and beliefs, he was going to take out Sensei, even if it meant from attacking from behind.

Sensei sighed, "Forgive me."

Just as Val was about to grab him, Sensei slammed his elbow against his chest without turning around. Without looking back to see Val's condition, he continued back to the gates, already aware of what had become of his former student.

He fell straight into the ravine below.

Well, not exactly. Val was hanging by his foot.

Sensei turned around when he heard mad laughter behind him. He was surprised, not at how persistent Val was, but rather that he wasn't correct in assuming his former student fell. He quickly ran to the bridge.

"Ryan-kun, lend me your hand."

Val just continued to smile, looking at the canyon below him. "You know, Sensei, now I see why you never allowed children on this bridge without a superior such as yourself."

"Ryan-kun, please."

"No… you were right, Sensei, I have grown dark beyond my years, and you're right… even if you can guide me back to the light, the sun will still set, and the stars are too far away to reach… With what's happened, it's hard to remember my true former life… but everything has been slowly coming back to me, and with all I've learned throughout the years, I can't return to the light just now. Perhaps someday, I will see everything through your eyes, but for now… you've already helped me more than enough… I can't believe that with the mind erasure I became so arrogant and self-centered… Everything's back… Thank you, Sensei."

Sensei knew Val wasn't going to allow him to do anything further.

"Worry not, Sensei, you're forgiven. Until we meet another day… I have some unfinished business to take care of."

With that, Val twitched his leg, and fell straight into the river thousands of feet below.

"I was afraid of that…"

Even Sensei had his doubts of him surviving, but even he knew of Val's true past.

* * *

"But you did…" Kim spoke with clear boredom in her voice. "Ugh, I'm confused. First you're maniacal, then merciful, then just plain sick and wrong, suicidal, and…" 

Kim couldn't finish, and Ron was still taking his time grasping everything. Val just stood patiently as the two gathered their thoughts.

Val shrugged. "Heaven spat me out and hell had no vacancy."

To her, it was now clear why Yori thought that Val was killed by Sensei. The old man knew the truth, but he probably didn't want one of his most trusted students, one who looked at him like a father, to know that an old friend came back with blood in his eyes. Yori never knew what happened to Val after he left, completely unaware of his fight with Team Possible. It wouldn't be the first time former students tried to attack their old mentor, though, but they were all for different reasons. Some challenged Sensei demanding that he hand over some hidden fabled weapons, some challenged him demanding to return to the school after being expelled (the most recent being a former student named Fukushima), and some others in the forms of ninja assassins, usually from another school. Compared to the others, Val didn't have it so bad when fighting Sensei, since he was actually able to _see_ how he lost.

But for Kim, that was the only thing that made sense. She suspected that Val wasn't really dead after hearing that he may have died in another way from what the news reported. And to think she attended his funeral as well…

"That still doesn't explain why you did any of this," Ron went on. "You even dragged Yori into this?"

"Dragged? Oh no, that's where you're wrong, my friend. Sensei hid the truth from her because of my involvement with you, but the second she found out, she was just _dying_ to be captured. Poor fool, falling for a boy in less than a week, and becoming obsessed with the thought of seeing him in the months to come… I honestly didn't intend for you to be so concerned with someone that wasn't your girlfriend – let alone someone you hardly knew as well. I guess you're not qualified to be a true teenage hero either…"

"See, that's another thing I don't get," Kim snapped, "What's with you telling us what being a teen hero is all about? You're anything but, Val."

"What makes you so sure?"

"No real hero would steal nukes, use a bunch of bio-mechs, steal some MPAWVs-"

"Judgments," Val corrected.

"Judgments?"

"That's the real name of the project, to develop giant war vehicles that can travel through land, sea, ground and air. Doesn't matter the terrain, the weather, or enemy security. Besides, Judgment is a much nicer term."

"Fine, Judgments then. Whatever." Kim mumbled. "No kind of hero would do such things, and not in the name of some obsession. I might not know everything about you, Val, but I know you're the kind to obsess over things."

Val stood silent for a few moments, before looking up at Kim with a sinister smile on his face. "You're absolutely right, my dear. But I have some bad news for you. This isn't going to be anything like the last time. I haven't gone out all the way to accomplish so much in the name of revenge or obsession. You're just a bonus."

"A bonus? So that means…"

"While you have been successful in destroying the Bio-Mech line and the Judgments, it doesn't there end there. There's still quite a nuclear threat."

"So where are they?" Kim demanded with a hard tone.

"I'll tell you when you're ready."

Kim groaned. "So what are your reasons for everything, then?"

"I'll tell you when you're ready." Val repeated, then turned his eyes to Ron, who was acting weird.

"Sorry to interrupt…" Ron squealed. "But… I need to PEE!"

Both Val and Kim groaned with disgust.

"Too much detail, Ron!" both cried in unison. Kim didn't even notice.

"Hey!" Ron protested. "At least I'm not like Kim where she just _loves_ to tell me she needs to pee!"

"RON!"

"I'm not lying! You can't say 'I'll be right back' or 'I gotta take care of private business' or 'Nature calls' even. It's always 'Ronnie, I gotta pee!' and it's always with a smile, too!"

"RON! SHUT UP! NOT NOW!"

Kim was beyond mortified. If she was still under that disappearing spell, she'd be a ghost, and she'd have enough power to suck out existence in the process as well.

But Ron wouldn't shut up. "So wait, its okay for _you_ to say it, but not me? I mean, what's up with that? That's sexist, KP!"

Val was shaking his head. "It's called a double standard, Ron. Happens everywhere on the planet and it can't be avoided. And people say _I_ abuse my freedom of speech…"

"Would you two shut up? This isn't funny! This is worse than when my mom… never mind."

"When your mom called you 'Bubble Butt' in front of Drakken and Shego? Get over it, Bubble Butt." Val grumbled. "It's not like this is news to me."

The couple blinked in unison. "What?"

"Oh please. You said it yourself, Kim, I was obsessed. Even though I tried to leave everything behind, I've been spying on you ever since you placed that souvenir from our last duel on your dresser."

"Souvenir…"

* * *

Warp to late May. 

It was a day just like any other day. That's what anyone not named Kim Possible would have said. It was late, and she was bored, tired, and alone. It had been three weeks since graduation, and Ron wasn't in the country. He had gone back to Yamanuchi to finish his training, interrupted by his dream of finding out her whereabouts after she had gone missing, and there was no telling when he'd be back.

And boy, did she miss him.

But that wasn't the only reason Kim was sad. It was only two days ago that the news identified the body found near Upperton Lake. As she feared, it was Valia Erocus Ryan. He was a dangerous foe who was desperate for a worthy duel with her and Ron, even if it meant his life was the cost. But she couldn't understand his last action – why did he allow her to escape? Most villains would die only if they could take her down with them, but Valia didn't have that same desire.

Today was his funeral, and the body would not be present due to the recent discovery.

Kim attended to give her final respects, not only because this was one of her former foes, but because she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She didn't know everything about his past, only that it really wasn't that different from Ron's. The difference between the two was that Ron didn't hold grudges on those who made his life miserable. Kim had her share of grudges from time to time, so she could sympathize to an extent. But the hero and the villain had a few things in common. Her anger was fueled by any pain Ron would go through, and it was a weakness he exploited and used against her. It would be their teamwork skills that would take him down once and for all.

She thought they would meet again since the body was never recovered, but the news reported otherwise a few days ago. She wasn't exactly that comfortable knowing that someone you fought was dead. Kim hadn't been to many funerals in her life, but if she felt bad for the guy earlier, she felt just plain miserable now, because hardly anyone attended. On one side, there were probably five others, and on the other was an open casket with no body. No pictures, no flowers, just the casket. She didn't even know whether or not this was the right funeral, but it was. She didn't recognize anyone, probably some high school pals who heard of him at the most. But Kim's eyes ran across a ghost, an opposite that was nearly a twin.

No, it was the girl that ruined him, Michelle Stonedge. Unfortunately, she didn't come on her own free will; her boyfriend forced her to come. Kim wasn't one to immediately dislike people, but Michelle was an exception, and to her it was no surprise that Val went insane from heartbreak, more so from her proud inability to care. Michelle knew what role she played, she knew that she ruined him, and she didn't care. If anything, she took this opportunity to show off some expensive clothes she got, as well as her boyfriend. Kim chuckled at him – even he was disgusted at Michelle's lack of respect toward the dead. Kim could tell that he was going to break things off the next day.

But Michelle was wearing a lot of feathers and sunshades, but when she removed them, it almost frightened Kim.

Michelle was merely a double. Same height, same build, same hairstyle, and same eyes. But they weren't twins. Michelle had pale brown eyes, much like the boy who crushed on her, and brunette hair. Pitifully, she tried to make it blonde, but it clearly didn't work.

Kim was annoyed by her, but her presence didn't distract Kim's purpose here. They had given his biomechanical hand to her, the only remain they had found, and she was going to place it in the casket as if respecting her former enemy.

Suddenly, as she was about to let go, someone grabbed her hand, and Kim almost gasped when she realized who it was.

"BONNIE? What… ho… what are you doing here?"

Bonnie had an uneasy look on her face, trying not to make a scene. "Hi… well, um, you see…"

"Ex?" Kim guessed.

Bonnie shook her head. "No! Well, he's… my cousin. He was my cousin."

Kim's jaw dropped.

Bonnie scoffed. "Don't get in all over your head, Kim."

"No, I mean, I honestly had no idea. You were related?"

"We weren't close, but yeah. I met him a few times when we were younger, but he was always interested in other things, like his weapons, martial arts movies… he was kinda oscillated."

"You mean isolated?"

"Yeah. We weren't that close, and we never really saw him a lot, at all kinda."

"So what brought you here?"

Kim noticed Bonnie's mom and sisters nearby. The siblings were clearly bored and had no idea of why they were there.

"It's not them, if that's what you're thinking. It's weird, I just felt bad when I heard the news. I can't explain it. It was scary enough that he turned into some kind of psychotic bad guy that did something to screw up my cell phone for three weeks, but I felt something… different when I heard he died. Sorry he gave you a hard time."

"Bonnie, you give me a hard time all the time."

"I know, and I kinda came to say I'm sorry for that, too."

"Really?" Kim asked in surprise.

"This is a funeral after all, Kim. Not the place for some lame cheerleader rivalry."

"You're right. But… why did you come over to talk?"

Bonnie pointed to the object in Kim's hand.

"That. Why are you putting it in the casket?"

Kim held the hand up to eye level. "To pay my respects. This is the only remain they found at the time."

"A metal hand? Why would he have this?"

"Believe me, you don't want to know."

Kim offered it to Bonnie, and she took it to inspect it. It was mostly a chrome hand that had no detail on it, but various areas were damaged and showed what it was made of on the inside. Something about holding it in her hand made Bonnie feel different.

Bonnie finally sighed, "You should keep it." She was unusually warm in her voice, pushing the metallic object against Kim's chest. "Something wouldn't be right about putting some fake limb in place of his body. It's no replacement."

Kim was surprised that Bonnie had a point, so she accepted it.

"Thanks…" Bonnie quietly spoke.

"Huh?"

"You see, Kim, I…" Bonnie spoke uncomfortably, "Family deaths are common with me, since my mom's one of six children. I always go to funerals about these relatives I know little to nothing about, or never even heard of. The thing is, no one ever comes to them - No big family reunions, no best friends, not even regular friends or co-workers or school peers. No one. Even now there's no one here. So, here's some guy that gave you and Ron a hard time, and you're still here to pay your respects. So, thanks."

"No big. I just feel sorry for him. I mean, here's a guy who tried to be himself, and everybody tortures him for it. He gets bullied, beaten, heartbroken, and no one's there to tell him it's okay. Nobody cares, and that's why he snapped. He was just quick to let his anger and power consume him. It's a real shame. You meet people like this and sometimes you wonder if you could go back and help them. Then I look at some of the people here and see that even now they don't care, and they know exactly what they did. I'm sorry, Bonnie."

"Thanks, Kim. I never really knew who he was, but what you just said kind of gives me an idea, but now I feel worse inside."

"My Kimmunicator's database has a full bio on him, or at least what GJ was able to find. I can print out a copy of it if you want."

Bonnie blinked, "You'd… do that for me, even after everything I put you through?"

"It wouldn't hurt."

Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator and pressed a few buttons, printing out a short profile of Bonnie's deceased relative, and handed it to her.

A weak smile made way to Bonnie's face. "I appreciate it, Kim... But you said his heart was broken by someone who knew what they did and didn't care?"

"Something like that."

"Oooh, wait till I get my hands on her!" Bonnie snarled.

Kim was surprised. Bonnie did this often in Middleton, blowing off a lot of guys who tried to woo her and didn't care, yet stood up for the relative she never truly knew. Something was different about her now, but inside Kim still saw the Bonnie that wanted to completely destroy her high school career. She decided to clue her in, and maybe this would get her on Bonnie's good side. Kim knew that Bonnie was the type of person that needed one target to make miserable, and right now that was Kim.

She decided it was time to hand the torch to Michelle.

"If you really want to know, she's with the big brown-haired guy near the window," Kim whispered.

Bonnie also lowered her voice, "You're kidding, Michelle Stonedge?"

"You've heard of her?"

"Heard of her? Our families hate each other. My mom hates her mom, though she hides it in public, and my sisters hate hers. She was also a cheerleader in Upperton, but never attended any of the games or regionals. I'm surprised she was never kicked off, and here I working my butt off."

So that's why Kim never heard of her. "No kidding. Well, she's all yours."

Bonnie then walked off toward the direction of the couple, leaving Kim alone with the metallic object in her hand. Memories of the final battle with Ryan came to mind. She was still surprised that she and Ron got out of it alive. Ron… even if he were here in Middleton, would he have come? Would he have come on his own will? Looking around the room, it appeared that most of the people here didn't wish to come, probably forced to come by someone else's wishes, excluding Bonnie's mom and surprisingly Bonnie herself. But then she noticed one more figure. Nev Killbourne himself, former friend of Valia and the one who clued Kim and Ron in on him. She slowly approached him.

"Depressing, isn't it?" he started.

"Tell me about it. He may have tried to kill me and Ron, but I couldn't help but feel it was more of his anger than his true self."

"Poor guy. I suppose that when you pray for death's sweet embrace, he'll find you somehow."

"He's in a better place," Kim hoped.

Kim and Nev really didn't talk much. They both paid her respects, and after seeing Bonnie leave with Michelle's now-ex-boyfriend and her family, she left. Nev would stick around for a few more minutes before doing the same.

'_Poor guy,'_ Kim thought, _'Just a few friends that probably didn't even know him that well and his ex has the nerve to come here. At least Bonnie and Nev came.'_

She arrived home late that afternoon, and it would be a few minutes before the tweebs and her parents would come home. By now she was back in her room in regular clothes and Rufus was starting to wake up. Sometimes she forgot that Ron had left Rufus behind, but at least this time he wasn't calling her every five minutes to see how he was doing. She missed Ron a lot, and he didn't leave any methods of communication. He had to do everything all alone. It was a choice he made and she accepted, but it never dawned on her how lonely she felt without him.

She was reading some magazine to kill the time and to get her out of her sad vibe, constantly looking at the chrome hand that now lay on her dresser. She found herself extremely bored in the summer with no Ron around. It was like every night was Friday night, the night in which she now declared her official Ron night, and he wasn't there at all. It didn't help that the hand on her dresser reminded her of the funeral that day.

The doorbell rang. Mom or dad must've forgotten the keys again. Kim put down the magazine and made her way out of her room, and down the stairs, expecting to find her dad making up some excuse abou-

"Surprise!"

Instead stood someone she felt like she hadn't seen forever.

"Ron!"

Surprise indeed. Ron finally came back from Japan, and he came packed. He was completely finished with all his training and Kim was quick to notice he had a box behind him.

"Ron? Is that for me?"

"Rufus, actually."

Kim pouted in disappointment.

"Just kidding. Of course it's for you," he confirmed as he placed the box in her hand.

Kim was ecstatic, "Can I open it?"

"Well, yeah, KP. That's the point of a gift, isn't it?"

She nudged him, "You never know if it's an early birthday present or Christmas gift."

"Kim, both are months away. Go ahead, open it."

So she did. She gasped when she saw it, a beautiful golden necklace covered with emerald diamonds, matching her eyes perfectly. She was giddy all over when she put it on.

She quickly wrapped her arms around him, "Ron, I love it!"

He chuckled, "Knew you would, KP."

Little did Kim or Ron know that upstairs, one of the fingers opened on the hand, flashing red for a brief second.

* * *

If Kim could move her arms and legs, she'd slap her forehead. 

"A mini-camera…? No way, it couldn't be."

"Don't believe me? I'm well aware of the sessions where you both made out time and time again, the snuggling, hugging, and all that cute action. I was also able to tap every one of your phone conversations you had with dear old Ronnie, and the many television programs you watched. Thankfully, I wasn't treated to any X-rated actions."

Kim sulked.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg, Kim. Did you honestly believe that since it wasn't attached to my nervous system that it had no power? No, it could do anything on its own, including walking out of the house and following you everywhere you went. Every moment you thought you had in privacy, the hand was watching. The tree house, the mall, the movies, your room, your living room, Bueno Nacho, Club Banana, Smarty Mart-"

"That's enough!" Kim yelled. "Just why? All I want to know is why!"

Val just chuckled to himself, and both Kim and Ron knew it was one that had a message in it: I'm not telling.

Kim was unable to believe that all of those private moments she and Ron had together weren't so private. The thought alone was devastating.

Ron decided to speak for her. "Dude… this _is_ some kind of twisted obsession…"

Val sighed as he turned around, standing still in the cold rain. Despite the heavy precipitation, the fire on the Hind refused to die, and there were no signs of it blowing up.

"Let me ask you two something… do you honestly know why I became so infatuated with you and Stoppable?"

Kim didn't answer, but Ron was paying full attention.

"It was because when I first heard of you both, you were the first team of teen heroes who decided to go public. I honestly didn't think it would work, but later on, you appeared everywhere. Television, newspapers, magazines, audio interviews on the internet, everything. But down the line, you faced more dangerous works of destruction, and then came the footage where Kim kicked Shego into the tower at Bueno Nacho HQ. Everyone was concerned with how Shego managed to survived, but I was more concerned on someone who was willing to kill their old rival just for some… petty revenge over playing with her heartstrings. I had always dreamed of a worthy challenge, and even my high GPA wasn't enough to fulfill that. But once I saw you, I knew that I wanted to fight you."

"Fight? You wanted to kill us!" Ron snapped.

"That's what you were _supposed_ to believe. Anyway, I was hoping to engage in a duel with Kimberly, a legendary fight worthy of remembering, one that would leave one of us near-dead but with enough strength to live. However, upon my research, I discovered that you two don't take your villains seriously. That's why I had to take the game to the next level. This way, you two would view me as a threat and not hold back. Unfortunately, and disappointingly, I was treated to a softie who got all emotional once her partner took a hit."

Val paused to let out an exasperated sigh.

"Usually, when heroes work in teams, they don't freak out once a partner goes down. A romance is cute, but if you haven't realized it already, it'll get you both _easily_ killed. That's why soldiers and agents are usually forbidden to fall in love on the field. So again, I had to rework my plans to the point where I convinced you two that it was personal, by trying to make you fight each other, which admittedly was rather fun to watch. You simply cannot work without the other team member to support you. Even then, you both were constantly worried about another, and the stress was your weakness. You were far more concerned with each other than yourselves, and it worked against you in a fight. I wouldn't leave you two alone until we fought in a decisive battle, and the only way to provoke you was that you kill me, or I kill you. Once you got your head in the game and fought two-to-one, needless to say I underestimated you. I never got my ass handed to me by a cheerleader and a slacker, or anyone for that matter. Honestly, the fact that I was beaten by a AAA-caliber woman, in terms of appearance, brains, technique and so much more, and by a slacker who I thought at the time had so much in common with me then… fascinated me to no end."

"So… you're not concerned with our relationship anymore?" Ron asked.

"Hardly. Neither one of you can work without the other, unfortunately for you, but together you are quite a formidable force, even by my standards. Personally, when it comes to your labels, a cheerleader and a slacker dating, I like the sound of it the more I hear it. Admittedly, knowing that it was the real deal, and not some pathetic temporary bonding due to both of your own emotional isolations-"

"Emotional Isolations?"

"It's a phase some teens enter when they feel emotionally alone. No one to hold, no one to care for them; they hit a level of low self-esteem because they feel they can't get a boyfriend or a girlfriend, and sometimes they become desperate to find anyone. They don't care how long they know someone, how well they know them, before they jump into the relationship. You went through that phase much earlier in your pre-teen life, while Kim experienced it days before the drone, sulking at the fact that everyone had a date for the prom but her. That's when the drone appeared and she thought she hit the ultimate standard, and we all know what happened when he was killed by your pet. But I was clearly wrong about you two dating for that reason alone. Even I understand that after all you've been through on this operation, like Cousin Bonnie said, you two are 'inseparable'. Knowing that, I'm actually growing quite envious of your relationship."

"Nice…" Ron commented. "So why get us involved this time?"

"I couldn't move onto the future, not until I know what it is that makes you and Kimberly indomitable."

Kim finally spoke. "So you mean you made us go through all this hell, just to make us come up here to some kind of final fight?"

Val chuckled. "I can see I've succeeded in properly provoking you just by the venom in your eyes, more so than last time. But there is a lot more to this than just obsession, my dear. Like I said, there _is_ a real threat behind all of this, but perhaps I've overestimated your ability to tackle it… hero."

Ron continued to squirm. "Um, can I take care of business already?"

Val sighed. "Well, I don't want you trying to shove your crotch in my face for a reverse cross throw with your legs if your pants are stained with urine… Sure. The bathroom's between what's left of the stairs and the ladies room."

From where Kim was at, she could see Valia barely twitch his arms. Suddenly, a series of blades had cut the wires that kept Ron suspended in mid-air, sending him crashing into the floor below. The wires had also quickly unraveled themselves, safely releasing him. Ron quickly located the bathroom doors and ran right in. Lucky for him, the men's bathroom wasn't destroyed.

Val decided to change the mood. "So now he's grown back into the buffoon instead of the confident man? I suppose the excitement wears off after some time."

"Actually," Kim smiled, "This whole experience has really made the meaning of the relationship more alive and exciting. Even though Ron's gone through a lot, the fire's still there. I never thought such things would make me see him as a soul mate."

Kim was hoping this kind of information would disgust Val, but apparently it didn't.

"You've changed," he remarked. "Before, you were trying so hard to keep an intimidating profile, and now, you're acting no different than the time you were affected with the Moodulator… anger, sadness, confusion, bubbly love… especially with him around. Unfortunately, being human doesn't really help you out in a dire situation."

"Listen, Val, I know how to balance real life and world saving."

"Keep telling yourself that. You allow both to merge in at once, and if it weren't for the fact that you were facing textbook villains, you'd be dead from it. Normally a dictator wouldn't allow you to talk smart in front of them, and would blow your brains out almost instantly."

Before Kim could counter, Ron came storming out of the bathroom, only to be taken to the ceiling via a net trap.

"Can't have you doing any funny business after taking care of personal business, Stoppable," Val sighed.

"Aw, weak sauce!" Ron cried.

"Tell me you at least washed your hands…" Val mumbled.

"Always do!"

"Good." Val dusted his gloves before turning to Kim again. "So, where were we?"

Kim stared at him with poison in her eyes. "For putting me through all the crap you did, from trying to assassinate Ron, giving out some nuclear threat that made us travel halfway around the world to fight four cybertronic biological weapons, a giant mech, putting nanomachines in Ron, having to make us go through a hundred floors to take out the rest of the bio-mechs, Elurt, and fighting a freaking Hind, you'd better have a darn good reason for this."

Val shook his head while he laughed. "Oh, Kimberly Anne… you have no idea. You see, not all heroes know the difference between right and wrong, truth and lie. They can exceed in one, but fail in the other. One of the very few differences between you and I is that I do what you consider wrong, but I know the truth of everything. You do everything you believe is right, yet you live in deceit."

"That doesn't make much sense."

"Some people you would consider heroes or legends don't work like pacifists. Sometimes we stoop to what the public considers acts of terrorism to do what is right."

Neither Kim nor Ron was getting it.

Val let out a disgruntled sigh. "Well, I was hoping part of my codename, 'Dive', would be an indicator of who you were dealing with, but seeing that neither of you are familiar with those in the field, I'm not surprised you failed to see it… again."

Ron was baffled. "You're serious; you're some kind of…"

"Teen hero? Need another story to prove it?"

"No way," Kim argued. "The GJ reports don't have _anything_ like that on you. If you were a teen hero, I'd know."

Val just burst into laughter. "And you honestly thought before this journey that you and Ron were the only ones. You have no idea of the other 7,852 teen heroes worldwide! And if you already forgot, they said I was dead, too! See a pattern? And not surprisingly, they don't even mention me by my real first name."

"You mean Valia's not your real name?"

"It's short for my full name, Valhalia. But the middle and last names are quite the same. Proves the accuracy, doesn't it?"

"Whoa, wait, if you were good, why did you go bad?" Ron asked with curiosity in his eyes. Even if he didn't believe that Val was ever good to the point of saving the world, he had to hear this one.

"I had my reasons, and believe me, they're very similar to the situation you both are going through right here and now."

He turned his back to the two as he began.

'You see, back then, I went by the codename 'Valve Dive'. One of the many codenames I had, but that was my primary one."

Kim thought to herself – was that why the others were calling him a traitor? They knew who he was…

He was a government agent? Could it be?

Val pulled out a card and tossed it towards the two, sliding it across the floor.

Valhalia Erocus Ryan - CIA.


	21. 20: Abhorrence

**Chapter 20: Abhorrence**

_Before we start, any and all similarities to characters, groups and other real life entities are purely coincidental. Duh. Have fun with the rest of Val's rant, including more weirdness, sliding on the rating, and more stuff that'll mess with your head if you choose to believe it._

_I know I went a little low with a specific joke last chapter, but when just about every girl you meet is open about such information, the disturbing feeling is haunting. Well, for me anyway. Again, my apologies to anyone offended. On with the show. _

_

* * *

_

"No way, that has got to be a fake."

"Read the date, K. Long before you started high school."

He was right. Upon further inspection, Kim realized that the card was identical to a real CIA identification card, even if she and Ron went there once. It wasn't a pleasant experience as she remembered, due to the people working there refusing her help because of her age. It didn't help that Ron was beating the heck out of the snack machine because it ate his money.

It was authentic all right.

Val continued. "You two started in the second year of middle school on your own free will. But unlike everyone else, you weren't hired out by anyone, you didn't have a boss or anything, and you didn't even need to fill out a resume. But guess what? Every other person in the field had to, except for yours truly."

"Get to the point, Val," Kim demanded.

His attention was on Ron. "I started out much younger than you. In fact, my martial arts abilities weren't there for show, it was because my father and grandfather wanted our family to mean something, since my father was a bit of a lowlife. So my grandfather took me out to train all over the world, and my abilities caught the attention of some black suits. They thought they found the 'second best' of teenage warriors. I quickly grew to become more powerful than many martial artists of the world, my skills in infiltration were second to none… so they said, and I had the reflexes of a jaguar. They took me in and trained me further, which they would soon later regret. Three years later, at fifteen, they unleashed me into their world to get a piece of the action. I was just some young agent, no more than a weapon with hand strings attached. Just like you, Kim, I wanted to help people and live a normal life. But unlike you, I had to keep my identity in the dark."

"Secret Identity thing, huh?"

"Of course, to protect those I cared about, something I figure you would have seen to protect your family and friends. But before I went out there, I was given a partner; the best there was in the industry, only a year older than I was. She was pretty, young, feisty, extremely intelligent, and far more skilled than I'll ever be. She was everything you are, and a hell of a lot more, Kim. Everyone knew her by her codename, 'Sapphire Cypher', but I knew her by her real name, Enya Fayce. Together, we took down threats much worse than everything you've dealt with, thwarting maniacs who couldn't figure out the puzzle on the back of the cereal box. Enya and I took down drug dealers, weapons smugglers, sex offenders, prison escapees, the worldwide mafia, and we took back stolen weapons and even destroyed some if they were in the wrong hands. We were the best there were at the time, but we didn't exist. Our existence was never known to the public, and we were worldwide. You were taking down evil babysitters while Enya and I were taking back recovered nuclear warheads. She wasn't a hero by _your_ standards, but she was the best there was, and I didn't even know her for a full year. Everything I know - martial arts, technology, hacking, weapons, vehicles, explosives, tactical maneuvers, stealth infiltration and assassination, everything people in this world want to know, but are too lazy or afraid to pursuit - was taught to me by a high school student who didn't officially exist. That shouldn't be a surprise considering we had a fiery cheerleader at the same age saving the world from all sorts of World Domination issues."

"So where is Enya now?" Kim asked.

Val stood silent for some time before continuing, ignoring the question. "It was only a little over three years ago that we received an assignment that would change everything. Because of the 9/11 threat still causing panic, a bunch of media bias bull from outside America, and political parties acting like a bunch of drunken frat boys fighting over the last beer or sorority girl who had been dead for the last hour, we actually received an order from one of the big wigs as opposed to 'The Bosses'. We were planning to invade Iraq for various intelligence purposes, but the story being delivered to the public was WMDs, which was also the story being delivered to the troops. They had everything planned out, though – look for WMDs in an invasion, and whether we find them or not, turn the country into a democracy. Unfortunately, you can't inform the public the latter as a reason for invasion. You have a bunch of people who don't know the ins and outs causing a violent up rise. They needed to make sure they weren't making a mistake, and they didn't want the enemy to find out, either. So they needed an agent and a soldier. Personally, I declined, but Enya didn't. She was orphaned on 9/11, and she was prone to vengeance, wanting to get her little hands on any terrorist involved. They allowed her to do everything but take part of the Afghan War, but they wanted her to take part in this."

"So you went…" Kim guessed.

"I was in no position to restrain her. She never got anything she wanted, she just followed orders. The government gave her everything, but to her, things like money meant nothing. So, we packed up, and landed on the border near Iraq. We were ambushed right as we landed, and I didn't even have to hand her a weapon before she was off, bathing herself in their blood. I wish more women would react the way she did when she was called an 'infidel'. Unfortunately, it didn't last long, as someone launched a missile that struck between us. Believe me, the rest wasn't pretty. If you thought those pictures from the detention cells were bad, what they did to us was pure torture. We weren't POWs, we were hostages. And before you even think about it, there is no Geneva Convention there, and it's pretty obvious no laws, rules or morals of war apply. They didn't demand information, they did it for fun. They enjoyed all of it, especially on Enya's account. Finally, after five weeks of that hell, they placed us under a camera and put gunman behind us. One had a sword."

The couple _really_ didn't like where this was going.

"They had all left the room to make sure there was no support team for us, but Enya had the strength to speak, something I could barely do. She told me that she was known not to work well with others, and there was a reason she didn't find someone else. She liked me. She _liked me_ liked me. But unlike me, she didn't join of her free will. She wasn't American, so her parents trained her to be a weapon, and sold her to the land of the free. Want asylum? Bring a powerful weapon. You would think it was a sick act, but she did it willingly. She wanted to give her parents a better life, even if she had to die, and she learned to fall in love with our country, but she hated those who run it…"

Kim groaned. "Tell me this isn't some crap about the president. I've heard it so many times I'm growing sick of it."

You would too if you were called in for an emergency just to find out you were duped to join some protesters. It also didn't help that more often than not, it wasn't something Kim or Ron found protesting about, not when other people in the world _really_ needed them.

Val shook his head. "Not at all. But anyway, she told me that she knew she was going to die, but she wanted me to move on. She was in love, but death was entreated as well. To her, one life ending would mean one life living. Now that her parents were dead, she had no one to go to. I was her only partner, and she told me that at first, with how unshaven I was, she wasn't sure if she had a respectable partner, but it turns out I respected her as a human being more than her parents did, and she loved them much more. She was a good friend, but I wasn't going to prevent her from making a decision and going with it. But the moment didn't last, as those barbaric heathens came back. I'm sure you remember those pieces of footage on the news where… well, you already know. So we spoke the lines given to us at gunpoint, and those sons of bitches promised that they'd let us go. But afterward, they put the knife up to Enya's neck and were ready to carve away. I could remember her last words: 'Fight well'. It was a code we had. My response to that would have been 'Die Beautiful'. And she did, but not as I would intend. She managed to bite the knife and use it against the guard, killing him, grab his gun, and shot three of them in the crotch. The place instantly turned into a hellhole, but armed with only a gun. She probably killed about twenty of them before I witnessed one bullet make its way through her skull. Her death was quick and probably painless. She wasn't going to give those assholes the glory of her death, not without taking out some of her own. She fell in a gunfight, but not before she fired one more round that hit my handcuffs. Whoever was still alive would have her way with her, but not on my watch…"

"You can't be serious, Val," the auburn-headed captive said with clear disgust in her voice.

"I don't pull this stuff out of my ass, Kim!" Val yelled, but slid his finger across the scar that covered his forehead and left eye. "How else do you explain this battle wound? Or did you think it was some act of self-infliction in high school?"

Kim couldn't answer that.

"So how did you get out of that one?" Ron asked.

"Enya taught me that if you had to run from a fight, it was best if you could still take names. Dying for the name of millions is one thing, but dying while taking down millions is something else. To her, escaping without taking any of the enemy down was the way of a coward. I had already killed several people in my life, and I had just turned sixteen. The most important person in my life died before my eyes, and those terrorist dogs only bloodied her body further. What they don't tell you on the news is that these guys drink the blood of their victims, but I wouldn't allow for it one bit. So, with my handcuffs broken, they had no idea that I was going to give them the ride of their life. At first, you might think she left me to die, but she wanted me to finish the real job, and she knew I was capable of doing it, more than she was. I managed to snap the executioner's neck and stole the sword, and I gave them the worst death they could imagine. There was a reason that tape was never shown, because I killed all of them, and I didn't do it quickly, either. I hacked off every one of their limbs, from joint to joint, and I let them bleed to death. They were screaming, but I didn't feel any shame. I finished it off by shredding their heads like salad. I wanted any other terrorist bastard that was going to enter the room to see what was coming. Unfortunately, I had strict orders to return immediately, and like a puppet, I followed them without asking."

Kim and Ron were speechless, and perhaps queasy.

"My sentiments exactly. My orders were to see if that area had WMDs, and I told the government that they did, the whole region. A few months later, the invasion began."

Kim was appalled. "So you lied to them?"

"_Lied_ to them? Don't be a fool! Every one of those demon terrorists are a weapon of mass destruction. Of course, as an _observer_, I wouldn't expect you to know any better."

"So you're blaming the administration and taking revenge on them?" Kim guessed.

"The administration of the president? Hah! Administrations are only so temporary, but everybody else, senators, congressmen, judges and the like have been there for ages, generations even. Administrations have little to do with anything these days. It grows less with each presidency."

"Okay, really sad story…" Ron commented. "But I wanted to know how you went from one side to the next."

Val sighed. "Well, I returned to America with Enya's body, and I was given all of her belongings; money, medals, weapons, and personal belongings. At first, I thought that I had no right to try to change her mind about choosing to die, because she always knew what was best for herself and anyone. But later, on the way back, I got dangerously depressed. I felt that maybe I should have done something against her own will, and maybe we could survive the hell together and still complete the mission. I felt that I not only failed her as an apprentice… a partner, but as a friend. So, I talked to my superiors, The Bosses, about taking a break, but they were more concerned with mission details. They didn't give a damn that one of their best was lost, they didn't care that a friend died. The only thing that they gave a damn about was the information I escaped with. Out of all the people in the government I had to work for, I got two of the most heartless people in the industry. I never thought two sen-… The Bosses could actually work in there. They didn't work there so they could help people; they were more focused on their power and ego. These were the kinds that exercised their so-called power by whining and bitching about everything that was going on inside and outside the country, but contributed to absolutely nothing to help stop it. They didn't care that Enya was dead, and I could see it in their eyes why that was. They hated the girl, and she sure as hell hated them back. She followed orders from two people she despised the most, and only because she could turn the mission into something that would benefit people. Often, we would go out into poor countries and hunt down slave owners, but Enya would usually give all of her rations and water to poor children. Sometimes she forced me to do the same… well, frequently, but she fought for what she believed in, not to be a tool of the government, one that didn't know she was fighting for the people. She sat through many lectures, was often blamed for things going on, yelled at for 'jeopardizing the mission' when she did nothing of the sort. Those two assholes gave her hell. And you know what they did other than their 'professional' work? The Bosses spent taxpayer's money to get themselves drunk beyond belief and hire prostitutes, only to be on the news the next day exercising their power by complaining, and a lot of money went to the news networks to make them look like the good guy. That's something Enya deserved to be known as, as well as the best there ever was."

Kim shook her head. "Surely they would've been caught by now – 'The Bosses'."

Val was quick to counter. "Not when your family's name is a legacy and the other is a feminazi, well-trusted by everyone in the UN."

Kim had two names cross her mind, but she noticed that he didn't name names, and for a reason.

Val sighed as he continued. "She was actually the most pessimistic human being on earth, but she was the greatest; a true friend, a better mentor than even Sensei. She didn't get a funeral like I did, and she deserved it better than I did. I wanted to get away for some time, and they didn't want me to. She had left a will behind, only confirming further that she specifically wanted me to have everything that was hers. It also said that if she wanted her remains to be spread across the sea near her home, and I was more than honored to fulfill that wish. But the way it was worded, it was like she completely anticipated her death. Turns out she wanted me to use that as an excuse for me to get away from everything; since that was the only reason those grave robbers would allow me some free time. Instead of returning immediately, I found someplace in Kentucky to stay in, some trailer park trash place that's the last place you want. I continued to become more depressed, even becoming a chronic alcoholic at sixteen."

Ron sighed. "Dude, you know what they say – it only gets you more depressed."

"That was the point. Unlike the puppets in teenage society, I didn't drink to become accepted, to be cool, or some pathetic attempt to be mature; I did it so I would become so depressed that I could put a gun to my head. Alas, it never happened, but I wanted an escape, and I even built a small shrine of her things to honor her memory. But one day, where a clip of ammo would be in her favorite assault rifle, a book fell. Her diary. I knew she was smart, but the details were haunting. It consisted of nothing but angry thoughts, hatred towards humanity and those who truly controlled the people, including some extremely deep thoughts about life, even some… disturbing thoughts about me… probably something you and R- Scratch that, _definitely_ something you and Ron have had thoughts on."

Kim blushed in embarrassment, but Ron had other things on his mind.

"Dead at only sixteen… wow."

"A month away from her birthday, no less."

"But isn't something like that illegal, having a teen soldier be in terrorist locations without warnings?" Kim asked. "Everything you just mentioned breaks so many laws…"

"Absolutely, but The Bosses could rewrite laws exclusively for themselves, and even those who can work for them, but Enya and I had no such interest. She knew her politics a hell of a lot better than most of those politicians who refuse to shut up on TV. They put her in a war situation because they feared she was too powerful, much like a fiery cheerleader I know today. But as I went deeper into her diary, there were sketches of things our enemies would just die knowing about those who really control our country's state of mind… I didn't want to believe it, but I did my homework and it was all true. She wanted vengeance against some specific powerhouses, and that was why they wanted to put her up against a heartless enemy. She already had an IQ well over 210, one point less from your techno wizard Load. So, depressed, frustrated and scared of what they would have done to me, I quit like a coward and ran…"

Kim caught onto something. "But that doesn't make sense. Stuff like that shows when you head to high school, but you look just like an average guy… minus the scar and build."

"Getting there. Included in that diary were top-secret details on how to destroy The Bosses if I ever got the will to fight against them. But she didn't die wanting me to destroy them, she wanted me to move on and try to live a normal life. But of course, you couldn't do such a thing unless there was a way to remove those painful memories, so included was a map for that very purpose. The map led me to Austria, where they had a machine that would 'erase' parts your memory. A more appropriate term would be Memory 'Block', and I used it. It required nanomachines to be in your bloodstream for it to work, but I already had those injected when I was partnered with her. I didn't want to remember any of this, and we both knew that if I could live a normal life, I had to block out my memory of her. I wanted to live a true normal life, and not with the knowledge of everything I've seen. Think about it, live a normal life when you've seen death at fifteen? So once I had the memory block, and with the help of some of the _good_ people inside the government, my existence as Valve Dive ceased to be, and I found myself starting a new school year in the halls of Upperton High as a sophomore. No knowledge of Enya, my former work as CIA and PHRND, The Bosses, not even my martial arts or weapons proficiency. Just a regular guy with a scar on his face from a 'car accident'."

Kim tried to take it all in. "And that's when you met Michelle."

Val growled at the name, now remembering it. "Correct…"

Kim shook her head. "So that explains why you never defended yourself or fought against those who made your life miserable… somewhat. But that makes things even more confusing. If you said you didn't know your martial arts abilities, everyone who did wrong against you still suffered right after high school."

She sighed as she realized Nev's information on Val wasn't exactly accurate. "Never mind."

Val seemed to disagree. "No, you were getting there. I'm sure Nevren told you that my ancestors practiced witchcraft that almost quadrupled the effects of Karma. That part is definitely true, at least to the best of my knowledge."

"So why was it when we met you that you knew everything about your martial arts?"

Val jet out a weak chuckle. "The batteries on the nanomachines started to finally die after I graduated, since most of those in the government require a cleansing and reinsertion every two to three years in their nanos. I'm no exception. But everything didn't come back in one day. My fighting capability was the first thing to return, shortly after I graduated a year earlier than everyone."

Kim groaned. "I so don't understand nanotechnology."

Val smiled at Kim's confusion. "You see, memory block is a digital medium, almost like holding specific memories in folders. When things are hidden and recovered, it's not exactly scrambled and random data. Vaguely putting it, you usually remember moments in life in categories, and that's how the memory block does its job. It found my memories on Enya, any and all things related, including battle experience, training, infiltration, weapons and martial arts training, my knowledge at the CIA and PHRND, The Bosses, affiliates and enemies, etcetera. Every person, location, event, state of mind and physical condition I experienced in those years were 'blocked' out. However, you could choose an exception, provided you have what it takes to bribe the scientists. The one thing I didn't block out was my obsession for the ultimate challenge, hoping that would aid me in life. I figured if you could crave a challenge at school and a job, you could achieve much in life… Funny, even though I tried to block out who I really was, including my past, I quickly became obsessed with the 'new' powers that were coming back to me after graduation. I still turned out to be an asshole, an arrogant one at that, seeking fun at the expense of two other teenage heroes, just because their affection for one another became their prime weakness, and it cost me a damn hand."

"I get it…" Kim thought out loud. "That explains why your background information was so limited to us, because you told Nev the information about yourself with most of your knowledge blocked off. But when we fought you, the electric shocks must have destroyed the nanomachines and reversed the mind block. It wasn't the real you we were fighting…?"

There was a brief moment of silence before someone would talk.

Val chortled to himself. "Amazing that we first met in such conditions, isn't it? Enya and I had heard so much of the world famous Kim Possible, and I wound up meeting the girl, only to fight her out of anger and jealousy. Incredible, isn't it?"

Kim would've rubbed her forehead if she could move. "This is just beyond _anything_ on the weirdness scale. But something else still bugs me…"

Val crossed his arms. "Name it."

"Why did you _really_ save us? Was it shock therapy like Ron said, was it because you were coming back to your senses? I can't crack it."

Val took the moment to pop his neck in a few places. "Probably both. Have about ten or twenty thousand volts of electricity go through your body, and giving you memories you once forgotten. It could have been an act of mental instability, and perhaps not. Don't get me wrong, I remember our encounter perfectly as if it were yesterday. But like I said, you were just supposed to believe I wanted you dead. If you were to ask me this several months ago, I would've told you that I only fought you just so I could tell myself I defeated the great Team Possible. Had I won the battle, the same results would have occurred. I'd take the fact that I beat you two to the grave, while you two escaped and dealt with your own problems. But since I lost, proven completely wrong that your relationship wasn't just a pretty little drama rebound from the drone, grade A material in disguise, that wouldn't be just reason for you two to die. Honestly, even now, I find it hard to explain. I don't just kill for my own selfish ambitions, you know. I'm not _that_ undignified. If there's one thing I learned from our previous encounter, it was that not all couples were worthless people just exposing every single one of their vulnerabilities. Back in high school, people got together for the most shallow or idiotic reasons. I was probably the only guy who believed in love, that emotional feeling that warms your blood by holding someone you care about, and knowing they feel the same for you."

Kim had to ask, with curiosity in her eyes. "_We_ taught you otherwise?"

"No. You only taught me that there were exceptions to the game. You hear more about rapes, teen pregnancies, murder, divorce and STDs than love stories that aren't in the movies. Then again, what do I know about 'love'? I convinced myself I really fell in love with a nice girl in high school, and we both changed horrendously at the same time. She lost herself, and as a result, so did I. I only blame her for everything about love being a good thing. But now that I've seen you two, the phrase 'results may vary' applies here."

It was weird for both Kim and Ron to hear these kinds of words from someone who masterminded a hellacious trip around the world, while suspended by wires on a demolished floor.

Kim sighed. "So instead of leaving everything behind and starting all over again, you still decided there was still a fight to be fought."

Val just tilted his head as he continued walking around the room. "That was the one thing I did not anticipate from the Memory Block. You would think that your enemies would be kept tamed by the government, but when you wake up from a long slumber, you find out that they're already well on their way to real world domination! And the best thing? Nobody has a clue. And we're not talking about just ruling over the world and having everyone bow down to you… no, it's far worse than that. Even if I wanted to run away, there would be no point. You see, when you enter the business, Kim, it's a one way trip. You're trapped, and you'd better play by the rules if you want to live. Even after I left Yamanouchi after Sensei's rejection, I was often attacked by former-heroes-turned-mercenaries. The legacy of a hero lasts forever, but the hero him or herself does not. Often, they'll go insane from the gifts given to them, whether it's power or abilities. Or perhaps they find out the truth to what they've really been fighting for and lose it. Most are just people who got bored of the business and want to challenge you to a one-on-one duel because they want to see who's the best. There's a catch, however. This isn't a sparring match or a game where you honor your enemy. They want to kill you or be killed by you. It's not for personal gain, or for sport, it's a death wish. I killed many people in such fights, as did Enya, but as you can see, even though I told myself I wouldn't hunt down someone for the thrill of a fight, to kill or be killed, you can see I've broken that promise. That's what interested me in you at first, Miss Kimberly Anne, and I see you have the same thrill in your blood."

Kim almost laughed. "What, you're telling me down the line _I'm_ going to become like that? _So_ not!"

"_Going_ to become like that?" he cackled. "No, not at all. News flash, Kim: it's _already_ happening! You won't go down without a fight, you won't let someone else be better than you, and you have to get your villain. I was the exact same way. You also love challenges, and it won't be long before you become jealous at who's number one, the top of the food chain, etcetera. Or perhaps you already are."

"Whatever. I _know_ I'm not going down that road."

Val wasn't buying it. "I told myself the same thing, but I can see it's already in you, Kim. I'm not telling you this to provoke you. I'm telling this to you because you can't see it or you're CID."

"Clearly in denial…" Kim guessed. She still wasn't too good with acronyms these days.

Val continued. "Think about it; the beating you gave me when I put Ron under mind control for the first time, when you knocked Shego into the Bueno Nacho HQ Communications Satellite Tower, several fights with those Ice Shadow posers, the fight with the Fafnir, and lastly, the fight with the Hind? You had the exact same thrilled look written all over your face. The blood was in your eyes, and the curve was on your lips. Your face reflected so much vivacity. Everyone loses themselves in the adrenaline rush, and you are no exception. You weren't doing any of that because it was necessary or because it was the right thing to do, or that it had to be done. You were getting a thrill out of it. Don't bother denying it, because you smiled, and you _know_ you did."

Ron noticed Kim had her head hung. She couldn't counter it. She didn't realize it at the time, but knew Val was telling the truth.

"You know, K, no one but you is preventing yourself from being a lethal killer, and you have everything it takes to be one. You've tried to restrain and hide the 'drama' for so many years, but it caught up with you on Prom night, and more so on this current mission. Now, you've tried to bottle up any kind of grief and hatred you've had toward anything since, and that's coming back to you as we speak. There's a hidden hatred inside of you, Kim. You nearly killed Shego that one night, and the smile you had on the news was a clear indication that you enjoyed it."

Kim sighed. "That was the footage that got you interested in coming after us."

Val smiled at her. "Disappointingly, I was treated to a teenager in love, but as I soon found out, you had no less hatred than I do, and no less powerful. You see, we really _are_ alike. We're determined as hell to finish what we start, everything needs to go our way, we take names, we love challenges, and we both save the world in our own ways. Heck, even I don't care about things like money. I am everything you are, and you are everything I am. You are the hero of light, and I was the hero of dark. The only fact is, Kim, darkness exists without the existence of light, but light cannot exist without darkness. If you don't get your head in the game, if you can not prepare yourself for the supernatural, forbidden sciences and technologies; the very things you could never imagine to exist - even in your wildest dreams and nightmares - you won't last for a second in the real world. You are indeed powerful, worthy of your popularity and status, but you are not without your insecurities; the one fatal flaw that will destroy you. A war isn't coming, Kim. It's already here, but you're not ready for it. And let's face it, you both still have your fears, and we all know that fear is the mind killer. You'll run into millions of people, heroes and villains alike, who know no fear. Such a trait makes them invincible, almost immortal…"

Ron scoffed. "_'Hero of dark'_?" It was clear he wasn't paying attention much to every word.

"Not every hero thrives on mercy, philanthropy, and pacifism," their host replied calmly as he kept his eyes glued on Kim. "I will admit; you're one of the few who lives entirely what you believe is right. You've kept your body pure, you haven't tried experimentation with dangerous substances… Hmm… With that said, I take my word back on you being a tool. You haven't sold yourself out to popularity, and you weren't so concerned with fitting in or was desperate to. Nice work."

"Thank you," Kim said with no amusement.

"You're welcome," Val warmly replied. "But you're a rare breed of heroes, Kim. I just wonder how long you can last. You couldn't kill a child that wasn't human, but you could kill an old rival, a woman in a Judgment, and someone armed with a Hind. If you look at the ratio, Kim, you'll be a killer in no time. But Stoppable… my, he's a pure one. His mind is still like an innocent child, ignorant of everything the world has to offer… but thanks to the cliques at Middleton, I'm pretty sure he knows there are such things as ungrateful people, rude people, stupid, ignorant, rebellious, annoying… news flash, kids, it exists in the real world. And Kim, I hope you thought it wasn't over with Cousin Bonnie. If she could send your esteem to the ground with a few words just about cheerleading and school, you haven't truly met anyone yet. If you remember, I was treated like Ron in my high school years, and Enya was as well in her middle-school and early high school years… what was there, anyway. Guess what? We were both seen as a threat. Ron was able to restrain himself with his optimistic view of life, but such things got you stressed out, and would bother you for days. But to no surprise, you tried so hard to hide it. The truth is, you hold grudges just as I do, Kim. You have the anger and hatred deep inside of you to become a powerful threat. You know, I also read in Enya's diary that I was partnered with her because they thought I was an equal danger as she was, at least in terms of physical prowess. She was targeted to be destroyed, as was I, and no doubt about it, you too, Kim."

Ron grunted. "How come I'm always left out of the picture?"

Val chuckled. "Oh, you're not. As a matter of fact, I've seen the Nail of the Dragon. That move is only built up by your own rage, and you must have a hell of a lot of it if you can do it without suffering a concussion."

"Nail of the Dragon?"

"Nail of the Dragon, a lethal foot stomp that can destroy anything in its path."

"Not ringing a bell."

"Your skin turns into another color while you send your foot downward to destroy the ground?"

"Nuh uh."

Val groaned as he had to swallow his pride. "That Akira-style move where you turn blue and slam your foot and everything goes boom boom."

Ron's eyes shined. "Ah, yeah, that one."

Both Kim and Val rolled their eyes.

"Well, that move can only be performed by controlled anger, making it obvious that you too have a bad side. But unlike Kim, you won't deny it and you _can_ control it. You won't deny any of your flaws; you accept them. You're also aware of them in combat, as I've seen and experienced before. And I saw what happened when you took out the Stealth Series Mechs."

The last of them.

"You mean when I got this strange feeling and went berserk?" Ron asked.

Val nodded. "That 'strange feeling' as you put it, is a rare moment where your own martial arts capabilities take over your body."

Kim didn't know what to make of it. "This I gotta hear."

"I will warn you, it's weird," he joked.

"Weird me even more already."

Val took the moment to pause. "Actually, so far the real reason for it remains unexplainable, but some of the most experienced martial artists in the world sometimes feel possessed by their own abilities, sometimes controlling their actions or generating an urge to fight. There's no official name for it, while I use the term "Blood Berserker Rage," since it happens to me often. It didn't happen in our last battle, so pray that it doesn't this time. And before you get any ideas, it wasn't mind control on Ron earlier."

"But I've never felt anything like that before…" Ron finished. "Not during any of our battles…"

"Since the Mystical Monkey Power in you is in your blood, it could have increased the adrenaline level to a high extreme, although that's little more than a hypothesis than anything. It might not even have anything to do with it at all. Surely you've seen the term "Blood Rage" be used just about everywhere these days: Novels, video games, movies, card and strategy games, fanfictions, and fan art even. Word even says that there are times where the victim never recovers from that state, but they usually die shortly after due to their heart and brain not being able to keep up with their dangerous blood pressure. While we're on the subject of rage, although yours is also dangerous, as demonstrated earlier tonight, it's nothing compared to Kim's. You may actually prove to be a better hero. Your skills have actually seen excellent progression since the day you two got together. I bet no one in high school would expect you to evolve so quickly after high school."

Kim had no idea if Val was being honest or was just tugging at her nerves, since most of the bad guys these days tried to make it sound like Ron was superior and that she was nothing. He clearly caught a glance of her face.

"You know how I know this, Kim? This entire exercise was nothing more than a test, to see how easy it is to destroy you through your mind. Ferno and Yori were brought in – as you guessed – as a way to throw you off. Both pretty, both lethal, but like you, not without their own weaknesses. Ferno's stubborn and runs into the line of fire, while Yori's prime weakness is her own emotions, constantly questioning them due to the fact that she was raised to fight and be calm, but not to love. Poor fool was raised in another world than ours, free of technology and politics, the things that make this world go round more and more by the day. You had heard of blood being drained only in the movies, but I did it to the Forefathers to distort your perception of reality. The same was done with the Bio-Mechs, and also because I had further knowledge of your opinion of artificial humans. The syntho-drones were disgusting, even before you knew you were dating one, and the Bio-Mechs were the next level… yet at the same time, completely obsolete. Ron's played so many games and watched so much TV such things don't really shock him, but you're another story."

Much like Ron, Kim was only paying attention to keywords in Val's rant. "Wait? What? You sent _obsolete_ mechs after us?"

"I predicted that you and your team would find out their weakness, and in reality, they were no less destructible than the syntho-drones. Yes, I didn't expect for them to succeed in killing you at all, even though they were programmed to destroy you, beat you to a bloody pulp, and even ensure nothing was left, not even a blood stain. I even messed up on the programming and told a few to eat you after they were done, but one of the other teams handled them. But you managed to defeat them all too easily. And to think that the communist militaries of the world believe they can simply order the best soldiers in the world from a catalog… foolish men. Our technology is good, but we're not at the level where we can digitize human souls into them, and that's why they fail. It's not the construction of the body, nor the knowledge and experience that allows one to succeed in battle, but the spirit."

"Wise words – maybe you should heed your own advice," Kim rudely replied.

Val was quick to brush her comments away. "I lost interest in the project, knowing that right now we couldn't succeed. Over forty years of research, testing, development and execution – destroyed within a couple of hours. Any other method than using you to destroy them would have been too expensive. Besides, I thought you would enjoy the challenge of it."

"Enjoy fighting for my life? No thank you. Let me see if I've got this: You mass produced them only for us to destroy them?"

"No, they were mass-produced from a long time ago, not just recently."

"You said Nev didn't deliver the right story on them, either…" Kim realized.

"Right. You see, the artificial human soldier project, as it was known as back then, was just a smoke screen. If word leaked to the public, people would buy it and accept it. Back then, the concept of cloning was only in novels and low budget science fiction films. But it didn't start out as some cloning project in all reality. The real purpose of it was to find a way to merge technology into human bodies."

"What? Oh, that's just gross."

"You're really not a fan of humans not born by nature, are you Kim?"

"No way whatsoever," she quickly confessed.

"Then you'd be surprised by what some… 'Ancient Records' indicate."

"Ancient records?"

"Yes. We're not talking about cavemen; we're talking about the first real humans on earth using biological technology on their bodies, becoming demigods."

"I haven't read _anything_ like that in the history books…" She was quick to change her tone into a sarcastic one. "But I'm guessing _that's_ something _hidden_ from the public as well, huh?"

"Quite," Val replied humbly. "Could you imagine if such a thing went public? Eh, I'll get to that later. At the time of its discovery, hiding it was done to prevent the hippies of the late 60's and throughout the 70's from inflicting self-torture in an attempt to do such a thing. Oddly enough, many teenagers and adults were reported of trying to shove pieces of metal into their skin, most who died from lead poisoning, yet the records had no relevance in it. You see, Kim, the government has found records

of intelligent existence much earlier than what you know as the earliest, but they aren't as dated. As a matter of fact, they're practically in mint condition."

"So why do you think it's much earlier?"

"Because what they were made of. It took the team several years to translate the text on the organic rock, which still hasn't been officially identified and named. Several relics were collected to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and the story was astonishing. It told of a time where ancient beings, incredibly intelligent and peaceful, ruled the world in absolute tranquility. There were no wars, there were no such things as anger or hatred. It was a pure paradise. They were also able to craft anything they could with technology, which is far more advanced than everything we see today. But technology wasn't used for entertainment; it was used for the most cleverly designed buildings and to help people. There were no such things as the entertainment industry. No celebrities, no pop stars, no politicians, none of that. It was true peace, and technology was actually born into the beings, allowing them to perform things we dream of. They could fly, they were capable of superior strength, they could travel halfway around the world in seconds, but they didn't concern themselves with such things. They used their fused technology to help each other, hunt, build homes, and such."

"So it was some kind of blissful society."

"Indeed. They even indicate they worked with God himself, but he abandoned them when they became aware of the power they wielded. Once the first being was killed, everything went to hell, and it wasn't long before everything was destroyed, except for forty relics, clues as to the ancient civilization. They destroyed themselves and the entire planet. There's even a theory at the labs that indicated they blew a chunk of the earth off and that formed the moon, but that hasn't been proven."

"If what you're saying is true, then why has something like that been kept out of the public eye, even now?"

"Are you serious? We already have enough problems with human evolution, not to mention mentioning God or a greater power involved offends half the human population. The last thing we need on this planet is another religion, especially one that tells the story of humans and machines being one. The public wouldn't understand it at all, not to mention they'd kill to find the relics, the only pieces of their technology left. For ages, scientists throughout the millennia have tried to duplicate it. Eventually the US Government took over in an agreement with the Japanese after WWII, trade deal after the Manhattan Project. Both the Japanese and the Americans did whatever they could to discover the secrets of the ancient technology and unleash them to the world, the project being named: 'Deus ex Machina'."

"God from the machine…"

"Even today, no one has succeeded. However, the lore's story tells that if we become too powerful, if technology evolves into the single greatest power in the world, we will repeat history by destroying ourselves with our own technology. But the effort continued, until a year or two before the Gulf War. The government wanted the scientists to shift projects to create the ultimate soldier, since simply injecting them with a steroid-like chemical called "Celphius" resulted in poor hand-eye coordination, stomach problems, and massive itching between the toes and fingers."

Ron intervened. "Was there ever a cure for that?"

"Other than not to take it, no. You've heard of Celphius?" Val asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"Nah, I just get some people telling me I have bad hand-eye coordination and I still have a lot of bad itching between the toes and fingers."

Kim took over. "So they just did it without asking?"

"Pretty much. When you think you're an ace with technology, you want to be able to create the next ultimate life form, to play God. Sure, they tell you they want to do it to understand human functionality better, as a ways to emulate their functions, and to cure the worst diseases and save people, but that is no more than an excuse for the public to buy. The same technology has evolved more rapidly in the last forty years, even being used in the Bio-Mechs that you killed, even on the Judgments that you fought. However, work on duplicating the ancient technology has almost ceased lately, moving onto another department, now with geeks instead of old men who don't know how to handle a computer. The lore warns of creating and opening Pandora's Box, but even with the technologies of today, it'll be a while… I'll give it about five more years…. August 2010."

Kim kept quiet. "I have a hard time believing _any_ of what you just told me. How would you know something like this?"

Val pulled out another identification card out of his pocket, this one also with his picture on it. Valhalia E. Ryan: PHRND.

"I'm the last living member of the former Pseudo-Human Research and Development team, but I quit the same time as the CIA."

Kim was familiar with this, "The PHRND? This just gets weirder by the second."

"Oh, members of the PHRND aren't the only ones who know this. Seeing the Nevren's a cyborg, he knows of it, too."

"He can't, not if he thought the project began in a war period."

"You're wrong. He actually has a huge collection of books that contain leaked information about the ancient legacy. He just doesn't know there's a connection between the two."

Kim remembered. In his old lab in Lowerton, Nev had an odd collection of books pertaining to ancient technology. She also caught a small glimpse of a library in his new lab.

"So someone leaked it? I thought the PHRND went down."

"Hey, KP, how come you know of it?" Ron intervened.

"My dad mentioned them a few times when he vented about work," she replied calmly, as if she weren't being held captive, "Apparently some members were interested in using some of his technology for unnamed projects. After that, I heard their funding was taken and they were no more. But that was… not even a month ago."

"That was the cover story." Val continued. "The Bosses recently killed the rest in a failed attempt to find my whereabouts… Idiots. I still know how to use the technology effectively, as you can see by my arm…"

Which they couldn't since he was wearing a trenchcoat, and all the smoking holes were everywhere but the left arm.

"But the mechs were already a lost cause. You may think because they were created from the latest technology that they would prove to be more powerful, and that's what caught Elurt's attention. But even you know that the desire for too much power is a deadly flaw."

"Well put. Again, you should heed your own advice," Kim retorted.

"Perhaps you should heed a bit of your own," he groaned. "Before, you've told Ron not to be dramatic, not to think too much, get his head in the game, calm down, and not to worry. In this entire exercise, you've been extremely dramatic, you've given yourself migraines just thinking about what was really going on, you didn't get your head in the game at all, you were hardly calm, and you worried yourself to the point of losing consciousness! If you thought that was bad, that was nothing compared to the hell Enya and I went through, and you're more pissed off than I ever was."

"You think maybe it was because you weren't aware that she cared for you until she was at death's door? Don't you think things may have been different if you became a couple?"

"Bah, earth to Kim, she died before we could even reach that level!"

"That's not the point! What I'm saying is that maybe if you two did get together somehow, maybe you would know why I'm so pissed off right now."

"Oh, I know exactly why. Perhaps you didn't realize it, but I've also been spying on both of you ever since you got the call about Elurt, the mission where you two got into your first fight."

"Did you plan that one out as well…?"

"Oh, not at all. In fact, I was extremely surprised. That was the only thing that was clearly out of my power. I didn't even expect Elurt to escape, not that it changed much."

"If you didn't expect him to escape, then why did you decide to have a short alliance with him?"

"I had some unfinished personal business with the old man, but for this whole thing to work I needed someone with a huge wallet. So, I hid my identity and confronted him with a deal he could not refuse…"

* * *

Three weeks prior to Kim and Ron's arrival in Thailand. 

Elurt was celebrating another betrayal of one of his former colleagues. Now his estate, business, and money were all his, thanks to an assassination by one of his Hands, A.

So now he was celebrating with some fine wine in his room, while his syntho-drone Hands were sitting around in clear boredom. But the party wouldn't last long, as a transmission came shortly afterward.

"_Sir, we have an intruder on the base!"_

"Identification?"

"_He's wearing a mask!"_

"Well, his fault. Kill him!"

"_Sir… Attack team has already been dispatched! They've all been taken out!"_

"What? How?"

"_I don't know… he's not human… he doesn't have a scratch on him!"_

Machine guns going off in the background could be heard.

"_He's deflecting our bullets! We can't stop… no… get away… get away… GYWAAHHH-"_

The transmission went dead.

Elurt slammed his walkie-talkie into the ground, which caught the attention of his loyal bodyguards.

"Find him! Kill-"

Everyone froze on sight. Whoever their intruder was had already made his way into the weapons storage room and already had a knife at Elurt's neck, using him as a shield from the Hands. He allowed Elurt to get a glance at him – a gas mask with long blonde hair.

"That's not a very nice way of treating your guests, is it?"

Elurt was trying to break free, but the intruder's grip was too strong. "Who… who are you…?"

"A name means nothing."

"Fine… then what is it you want?"

"A partnership."

The hands lowered their weapons, the same time the intruder released Elurt.

"Well…" Elurt coughed, "You've proven yourself quite well…" He quickly pulled out a semi-automatic machine gun and pointed it at his guest. "But we're not hiring."

He slowly walked aside as not to get in the line of fire from his Hands, who had already raised their machine guns. The intruder didn't appear to be surprised, afraid, fazed, nothing.

"Fire!"

With that, they all unleashed a barrage of bullets, but the bullets somehow didn't strike their target. He was doing something to block them out, but he was too fast – he was breaking the visual boundary. When it was all over, he stood with a sword in his hand and several rounds in front of him. He didn't have a scratch on him.

Elurt actually shrieked, but it was broken off when his head was suddenly engraved into the wall and had a sword at his throat.

"I didn't ask for a partnership – I demanded it. You don't have a choice here."

Elurt could barely talk. "Fine… list your demands…"

Finally, he was released and fell face first onto the floor.

"Demands? This isn't what you think it is."

"Then what is it?"

"I have an offer you cannot refuse, Frederick Elurt."

The tall man appeared to be fazed by the fact that this person knew his name, even though this place couldn't be found without that kind of information.

"I will give you the entire world."

"And that was it?" Kim asked.

* * *

"I had to persuade him that with his money and my 'cunning mind', that it was no impossibility to do such a thing," Val replied as he pointed both fingers at his head. "Kill several economic mob bosses, and let him take control. He bought the story too easily. With that kind of mind, I'm surprised he graduated from college. People become more intimidated when threatened by someone in a gas mask and a fake dirty blonde wig." 

"And let me guess, your demands were only me, Ron, and the money to do everything you needed."

"Since he had no interest in either of you and he was more of a saver than a spender, it was not his place to protest. But after he agreed, I was in charge of the arrangements. And since his drones did their _best_ to defend him…" he spoke sarcastically, "I upgraded them to Bio-Mechs, but he got the Basic Package. As I anticipated, you two showed up a couple of weeks later, and since his drones were still intact, I gave him the advanced package. That explains why they were more powerful in your second meeting. And the fool never kept himself in the loop…"

"Okay, another question… What _was_ up with draining the blood from the Forefathers?"

Val tapped his foot briefly before answering. "Well, if you were paying attention to the story of the Ancients, I was still trying to see if there is a way to merge technology into humans, or the other way around. Not that I expected it to work, but one of the theories of old co-worker Sam Johnson was that if you put the blood of a highly-intelligent person into the mechs, the genes inside would merge with the AI system. Seeing as those Forefather bastards were already a true threat, I decided they would all make perfect guinea pigs, and I put their blood into Elurt's Bio-Mechs. Sixteen dictators, sixteen mechs. As you can see, Johnson's theory was way off. Blood doesn't just merge with electronic brain circuitry. I tried a reversed procedure with Nev's battle suit, and that was no more successful. We can do it to repair and replace body parts and limbs, but we cannot use human blood to duplicate or simulate mental thinking."

"And what happened to him?"

"Found in a harbor with cement boots, courtesy of The Bosses."

Ron cut in this time. "So the whole Bio-Mech project wasn't exactly popular with the big wigs in the government?"

Val shook his head. "Apparently not, but like I said before, it's not the big wigs in the government that were responsible. Again, the higher-ups knew nothing of this. It was just the people in the middle – the ones who crave the power more than anyone else. There were a few… very few who were in the middle and actually did care about the people."

"You're talking about Goldman, aren't you?"

He wasn't surprised that Kim knew of the ingoing and outgoing communication from the tower earlier.

"Yes. He was an old advisor of mine. He was also around when Enya was killed, and he was the only one I knew in the government who cared. Unfortunately, he wasn't in any position to do anything about it, and it wasn't because he was black. He's actually one of the few who doesn't throw the word 'racist' around faster than a drunken slut at a frat party. It was because he wasn't an agent or a soldier; he wasn't a pawn of theirs. They tried to turn Enya into a puppet, they tried to turn me into one, and unless you change your life, Kim, no doubt about it, you'll be turned into nothing more than a pawn, either. Same goes for Ron. And once that happens, there will be no escape. Even if you try to run away from it all, one day you and Ron will be sitting at home with your children only to have armed gunmen break into your home, just to use your services, and at the exchange of the lives of your family members. You may believe that you're in control of your destiny, but believe me when I say that you cannot escape the path you've gone on. It only gets worse and darker from hereon out, Kim."

Kim actually blushed at the thought of a family, and Val even mentioned Ron as the husband – and kids!

Val splashed some of the rain water on Kim's face to grab her attention again.

"It's happened to me various times; no doubt it'll happen to you, either."

Kim was becoming convinced of Val's story, but tried not to show it.

"The nanos in Ron? The fake nukes?"

"The nanomachines were an experiment for my own purposes, but the fake nukes…?"

"Where are they?" Kim snapped.

"Four key structures on the world. Washington, Paris, London, and the new heart of our great country, here."

"What? HERE?"

"Did I not just say that? You've heard Ferno say that the crime rate had been growing at a ridiculous rate. Soon it'll be too much for her to handle alone, and she might not even live through it. Right now this city has minimal influence from The Bosses, but it will come in time. Better to take care of it now than allow such a beautiful place to turn so vile. At the same time, I'll take out the Bosses, London to make an impression internationally, an-"

"You don't even _have_ to explain France," Kim murmured. "But why stoop this low? I mean, not even Enya would want this!"

"SHUT UP! What the hell you know?" Val yelled. "You know _nothing_ of her dying wish!"

Kim unintentionally did as she was told.

Val was breathing heavily at this point. "Enya's dying wish was that The Bosses all to be exposed. The only way to accomplish such a difficult task would be to do something extremely drastic, something no one would ever be capable of covering up. No, I wasn't going to life a happy life for just myself, I'll do whatever I can to bring order to the world and expose The Bosses and everyone else like them fro who they really are… To expose the truth of what's really going on, I can't allow for The Bosses or anyone else in the government, no matter which country they're part of, to cover up the truth from the people anymore. Even if I have to destroy several lives, the people – both wise and idiotic - must know. You can't cover up several deaths at one time, no matter how hard you try."

"That's insane! You're going to slaughter innocent people!" Kim cried.

Ron cut in. "You're going to take your revenge on the world because your mentor died? One falls, and everyone else must die?"

Val slyly turned his head, smiling with pure hatred.

"Nice quote, but this is no mindless slaughter. You know full well that to achieve true peace, sacrifices _must_ be made. You're probably not surprised I also have a hatred for humanity itself…"

"Because of high school, I'll bet."

"Indeed. I'm not just concerned with taking revenge on those who were responsible for Enya's death, the ones in true power in this country; I'm more concerned with those who live in it. If there's one thing high school taught me, it's how people work. You don't learn that kind of stuff as an agent."

"What's your point?" Ron muttered.

"You'd be surprised how little people change from high school graduation to elderly age. As a matter of fact, politicians of all sides are really very similar to high school students. Not even graduates. Think about it. Many people want a new order where there is no order, they voice out their opinion without doing an ounce of research on the subject, looking like a damn fool. And even if they do, they twist the truth so it's easier for them to believe, and spread the word. They complain about things they're responsible for, they always want to develop their own rules, they're quick to judge people and actions without knowledge of their reasons… if one exists. Take censorship for example. We've all heard the argument that no one wants to see censors on violence, sex and language on television. They always say "_I_ can decide what my kid watches." But there's two problems with that. One, the majority of those teenagers who say such a thing aren't capable of making safe decisions for themselves, thus making them anything but qualified, and secondly, the sentence starts with "I". What about everybody else? Of course, they don't care. Even I'm not _that_ selfish."

"Oooookay. So what's the connection between that and politicians?"

"They do it reverse. Look at a politician and study his body language in his rants. Does he really care about the people, or is he trying to score political points? Have they done their proper research, do they have evidence, or do they look like they read something from the back of a cereal box? Do they speak with passion, or hate, and why? Do they feel strongly about an issue, or is it an act? What about the words they use? Is there any real reason to use hate as a means to score political points? To think such hypocrites want to run this country, and here I thought that in high school, _my_ generation would cause the apocalypse."

"That's cool. Great, so we know you hate politicians and high school. Whoopie…" Ron retorted.

Val went on with a disgusted look in his face. "And college itself is hardly that different. Most of those places are infested with those who never take life seriously, and they never will. And to think that some people do whatever they can to get into such a place, or to even afford it, and the ones who have made it in do nothing but destroy their lives. People die young from substance and alcohol poisoning and wish to fight those who wish to do something about it. And the reason? Because _they_ don't want people to limit _their_ so-called freedom. Such people don't deserve the right to think for themselves…"

Kim caught onto this. "So you're saying that even with the freedom we have in this country, people still want more. Too much of a good thing is just that: Too much."

"And it sure as hell isn't free. Too much freedom isn't democracy or liberty, it's anarchy. The old fossils in the government want it, teenagers and college students want it, and the children are too young and innocent to even know. And sadly, as they continue to grow, they'll be influenced by such things and will be no different. Generation will repeat generation. Oh, some people don't even _deserve_ free speech or freedom at all, because they're too stupid to even use it for the better. That's why this country was founded in the first place, so that new ideas that would _help_ the _people_ and the _world_ would actually be put to use, and not to be blocked out by some selfish blowhard who doesn't like the idea because he loses some of his own control. Amazing how the tables have turned. Today, we see people using their freedom as excuses to kill, use others, destroy them, and fulfill their own selfish desires by breaking every moral code and rule in the book. They call it 'expression' or 'exercising their freedom'. Exercising your freedom to destroy this world further while getting a rise for you and only you… that is no different than abusing it… And to think that those who really want to make a difference for everybody are a pathetic fraction of the population… No matter where you rank, from the little people to those in the government, every human exists with the same flaws. They all want their beliefs to be the primary belief system, no matter how good or evil it is. They all still have that lust for power, and more of everything they take for granted. We take so much for granted these days, yet people still want more. They want to be able to protest against what's best for them, what protects them, no matter who's watching. Not to say that protest is bad, but lately they've been exercised more for sport than a real cause. They just want the attention for themselves. No one cares about the next generation, the babies and children. It's all about them and them alone, and if someone tells them what to do, they instantly become hateful. So what do they do? Mindlessly bash the wrong politician, and not the one that isn't different from high school students, probably the ones that annoyed the hell out of you, Ron, and me."

Both Kim and Ron's eyes narrowed.

"You see, The Bosses and most of their political friends believe that two kinds of people exist in this world. Pawns and Players."

"Followers and Leaders," Kim guessed.

"I on the other hand also believe there are two kinds of people in this world…"

Kim guessed this one as well. "People who want to help others, and those who want to help only themselves."

"Very good, my dear. You're figuring these things out."

Ron butted in. "So wait, you feel that those who are selfish to the core are ruining this planet…"

"…and those who want to help others are becoming an extinct breed? Oh, I've seen enough through the halls of the Pentagon and the halls of Upperton High to know what I'm talking about…" Val spat with disgust and anger.

"So that's what the nukes are for, huh? You're going to slaughter millions with nuclear weapons?" the red-head asked.

"The very weapons we as humans created? I would do it differently if I could. If I was capable of filtering out all of the self-centered people and those who are _truly_ ruining the country and the world, I would flick them off the face of the planet forever, without a second chance. I don't care if it means millions or even billions… I'd be doing this world a favor…"

Kim couldn't believe her ears. "Nuclear weapons won't solve anything! The only thing that's going to happen is real chaos! You're going to initiate the third World War from it!"

"Initiate?" Val asked calmly. "There's _already_ a war, Kim! Oh, but as an observer you would understand nothing…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"When you've been in as many fierce fights as I have, you know what it's really about. You see, society views war as two categories: Those who live and those who die. Me on-"

"Fighters and Observers?"

Since Val didn't give any hints, this actually surprised him.

"Lucky guess," Kim smiled. "But you're wrong. I'm not an observer. Seriously, I think I know what you mean. There's those who actually fight in action, and those who watch at the sidelines. I guess you're right about some things we have in common…"

"Yes. We both fight so others don't have to, but we're easily criticized by everyone. I know you have been heavily criticized by the top names in news because they think it's horrible for a little girl to be out saving the world and putting her life in danger everyday. But what do they know of your work, Kim?"

Kim sighed. "Nothing. If only they knew that I'm going out there and saving people so _they_ can go home and sleep at night safely without worry… the real inside view than from just the outside…"

Val shook his head. "But they never will. They don't know what it's like to be in battle. Yes, people live and people die, but every day hundreds of children are born, and with an expiration date. On the other hand, millions of people die from natural causes, or suicide that isn't intended to take down others. It's only human nature. I no longer fear death, but so many people, including you and Ron, do. But everyone draws out their own conclusions by just listening to a five-minute special on the radio. What do they know about the intensity of battle? Do they care and understand our reasons? Anyone can say they do, but they only lie to themselves based on their limited knowledge of anything. They don't know how we as warriors think at all, not if they simply watch a ten-second clip from the news. Who are they to talk? It's not pretty, but you know, neither is life. It's dangerous, but so is going out alone at two in the morning. Only when the battle has come to an end does the real problem occur."

"Post-traumatic stress disorder?" Kim guessed.

"Exactly. Do you know what causes it, Kim? Because your mind is not occupied with the concept of pure battle, it wanders off into dangerous territory. But not everyone goes through it, as many who are wounded in battle, some with their own limbs; they wish to return to the battlefield, sometimes even if there is nothing to fight for. And you know what else, Kim?"

"Not everyone who wishes to fight needs a reason to. It's another story given to the public. I've heard."

"Quite right. Many of us cannot stop fighting… _I_ cannot stop fighting. But once this is over, I'll probably be considered the worst of the worst; a terrorist and a war criminal."

"So why don't you?" Ron asked. "I mean, go back to battle in wars? Dude, if you fought the right fight, you could be like a war hero."

"Bah!" Val spat with anger. "There's no such thing… we go to fight, and we are hardly honored for it. Medals, awards, rewards and fancy buttons are nothing but decorations to me. Even if we believe we're fighting for a cause, people spit at us and instantly blame us for ceasing world peace. Idiots. There will be no such thing as true peace… a world without war… as long as there are human beings existing on this very planet… No matter your race, gender, beliefs, religion, age… we're born cursed… The only time we'd be honored as fighters is when we're worm food. Besides… I have more important matters to deal with than to fulfill my own desires. I still have unfinished business with The Bosses."

Kim was trying to struggle out of the wires. "Everything you've said isn't just The Bosses and their buddies, it's everyone!"

"That's where you're wrong, Kim darling… Do you have any idea what The Bosses have been really been planning since my retirement?"

Kim was about to open her mouth, but her lips moved to Ron's words. "No."

"World. War. Three. Do you want to know how they would achieve it? They were going to use the exact same weapons I used against you. Nuclear weapons for every capital in the country, the other Judgments-"

"_Other_?" Kim interrupted.

"Didn't anyone tell you? There are five in existence."

"What? Where's the last one?"

"Actually, it was supposed to be in an underground hangar near here, but it's gone missing."

"Damn…"

"So they would fight with nukes, other Judgments, their own army of Bio-Mechs, as well as their own political power. Right now they are already very close to achieving chaos, manipulating and controlling the masses through the media. They have used all of the current events to create an unregulated power struggle, already creating a civil war of ideals, beliefs, religion and morals. And they stage everything like a drama so that the people believe _they're_ the ones responsible for their own thoughts toward such situations. What's amusing is that all sides accuse another of wanting to start a socialist society, when they're actually doing that themselves. Politicians like The Bosses aren't satisfied with the power they wield, even being able to break the ways of this country by destroying the legacy of our true founding fathers. Their vision is no longer being honored, and it's showing by disbanding some things like the Ten Commandments, The Pledge of Allegiance, and they've already had their eyes on the Declaration of Independence - the very things our founders believed in. The objective? A change in the world order: True freedom, one without rules, laws, limits, restraint or balance; chaos. People want to think that this country needs to break its traditions, to move on. The truth of the matter is, the wishes of our founding fathers, no matter their thoughts on politics or religion, must continue to exist, or the country will fall into chaos, and the world with it once it spreads like a virus."

"There's no way that can happen."

"You're wrong. They're also the reason other countries hate us, and through once again, proper manipulation through the media. Even if people caught on, they would use any and all mediums in pop culture to keep their thumbs on everyone. If they can use the media to make people loathe this country faster than Paris Hilton going for a spot anywhere in the media, they can manipulate them again to think the opposite. You see, Kim, even if people believe they are the ones in control of their choices, beliefs and opinions, usually it's by someone else's doing. Those who actually do have the mind to think for themselves, they're growing short in number by the day. The Bosses will use this influence to throw the world into the third and final World War. Governments will fall like dominoes, the people will fight amongst themselves, teenagers against adults, the selfish against the selfless, religion versus religion and politics versus politics, technology versus technology, everything. It's all been staged; Today's current events, pop culture, stories in television, movies, video games and books. Even celebrities, not that anyone cares and they're already worth nuking… Everyone's learned to hate something they don't believe in, and they'll be used like puppets. When it's all over, the earth will be no more than a desolate and chaotic planet. We'll go back in time to the days where technology did not exist. Only the survivors - leaders - will be able to shape the future."

"So now you're going to fight against them."

"Just as Enya would, but admittedly, less brutal tactics."

"_Less?"_ Ron asked, surprised.

"Quite. One of the things The Bosses never discovered from her were plans to sabotage a space shuttle and arm it with a laser powerful enough to destroy half the planet with one blow. She only would have done it if things got out of hand, and she could have succeeded. She was willing to destroy humanity in order to save it. If there were survivors, they would be the good people who would know best for the planet, and not power hungry moguls like The Bosses or those who live only for themselves and their greedy ends. As for me, I just need for them to be exposed."

Ron shook his head. "Wait, wait wait, you think by your whole sad story about Enya that you have the right to do this?"

Val shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. Everything I told you is in no way a means to rationalize my actions or to justify my cause. If I succeed, I don't expect for anyone to forgive me. I don't need your sympathy this time. I'm not doing this just to get revenge on Enya, but rather to do the things people prevented her from doing. The world is already starting to fall apart, from society to economics, and I'll have to take out whoever I can to prevent the plans of The Bosses and all of their colleagues to come true. I would rather destroy the entire planet than to allow people live under their rule like some communist empire. To destroy the Bosses and their legacy is doing humanity itself a huge favor, a race that hardly even deserves it. If many have to die, so be it."

"And nukes are the only way?" Kim asked.

Val turned around as if ignoring her, then shot a glance at her as he tilted his head back toward her.

"It is in our nature to destroy ourselves."

He then pulled out what appeared to be the detonator, with a radioactive warning symbol on the back.

"Well, what's more important to you, Kim? Saving the world, or… saving the world? It all depends on what you choose; life or death!"

Toying with her, Val tossed the handheld device up in the air like a pen, allowing it to spin several times before he caught it and flipped it into the air again.

"Val, don't! I'm serious, don't! Ron! Do something!"

"I'm no less helpless than you are, Kim!" Ron cried. "Oh wait, Rufus! Rufus!"

The shaken mole rat popped out of Ron's pocket, shaken but alive.

"Sic'em!"

Val didn't seem impressed. "You never learn anything, do you?"

Kim and Ron watched Rufus do several consecutive backflips before he landed on the floor, almost losing his balance from dizziness. He also did some kind of karate pose to provoke his opponent, then began to charge. Everyone's eyes widened when Val cleared his throat and started…

No way, he wasn't.

_Singing?  
_

"_Rock-a-bye, Rufus, in the tree top… When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come Rufus, cradle and all…"_

Rufus went from running to instantly fainting, rolling into a ball and right into Val's boot. He picked up the sleeping mole rat and petted him in his hand – with his metallic hand out of all things.

"Old habits die hard, hmm? Did you forget already, or did I fail to mention that I've done all my research on both of you? I know all of the details of your life, private, school, missions, likes, dislikes, personal desires, ambitions, school records, military records, background information, ancestry, even the certificate of ownership that Stoppable has for Rufus here. Did you think everything that's happened so far happened by chance?"

Kim let out a frustrated groan.

"With the way you've been acting, Kim, you came up here not for the sake of duty, but for _your_ own retribution for everything that's been going on. You won't be saving the world long with that attitude."

Kim blinked, "Since when could _you_ sing?"

"Hah, I'm a lethal martial artist, a former agent for the government, I can pilot any military vehicle handed to me, and you haven't even _seen_ me with weapons… does singing surprise you so?"

"Actually, yes. Yes it does. Despite that reality's betrayed me over and over again, that just did it. I wouldn't be surprised if this was some kind of 'Happy Birthday' celebration, and all my family, friends and enemies came together, because that's just how messed up everything's been!"

Val wasn't like Drakken in the karaoke bar. His singing voice was no less powerful than his regular voice. It was just as powerful as Kim's. Add that to the list of things they had in common. Just be glad we won't be seeing him in a cheerleading outfit anytime soon.

"You can blame those elementary school plays for that…" Val excused.

He tossed Rufus aside like garbage, right into what appeared to be just that – a scrap heap full of metal. But it wasn't part of the Hind or the building. Kim instantly recognized it as most of her equipment, but all of it was destroyed, taken apart piece by piece. Much of Ron's equipment was also thrown in there as well, including all of the weapons they brought with them, excluding one of Kim's handguns and Ron's sword.

"That's right. There's all of your equipment. Every one of your gadgets, weapons and suits have been completely dismantled, except for one of Kim's guns and Ron's sword, and now the mole rat. You won't be able to put them back together even if you try, so don't bother."

This had much more of an affect on Kim than Ron, since she relied on most of that equipment for both personal and standard mission use, not to mention how long they've been with her.

Even though Val mentioned that one lethal weapon for each was left, he had a trick up his sleeve in case they tried to use them. He had one weapon hidden on him just in case, but he looked like he was going to be true to his word – even if he had a left arm that was anything but human.

"Our last fight was not a true battle due to what was just mentioned. This will be _strictly_ be a fight to the death."

"A fight to the death?" Kim asked. Why?

"If everything so far has been covered up by the many governments of the worlds, there's no doubt that they'll be able to cover up the Hind and probably even the larceny of the nukes. If all else fails, the one thing they won't be able to cover are the deaths of everyone's favorite teenage heroes, not if I leave enough evidence behind that leads to the Judgments, the Bio-Mech project, and everything The Bosses funded. With all your fans, no doubt they'll hunt down the truth, especially your families. I'd rather not have it come down to it, but I'll kill every other teenage hero out there if it means exposing them for what they are. Everything I just said also goes for you, Ron, so don't think I'm going to go easy on either of you. I will destroy The Bosses and their legacy by any means necessary!"

"So you _did_ bring us up here just to fight!" Kim yelled as she struggled with the wires.

"Yes, but I also figured it would be rude to just destroy everything without giving you a heads-up. I'd rather have you die knowing you tried to do something, than failing to do a single thing about it. We will see if light or dark is a deciding factor in saving this world."

Kim grunted and thought in desperation. "Just stop while you can! Ron and I can take care of The Bosses! Just leave it to us and we'll find a way an-"

"HAH!" Val growled. "You're so predictable. I just _knew_ you were going to say that. But I can't let you get near them. At all."

"What's the reason this time?"

"Let me put it this way; there's no way in hell you'll be able to set a foot near them if you can't defeat me."

"And what makes you so sure I can't?" she challenged.

"Your so-called Kimposure." he quickly replied. "If you cannot learn how to maintain it given everything you've gone through, you are worthless and your cause is lost. However, I have been proven wrong in the past…"

"Ever think this is one of those moments?" Kim smiled with a sly curve in her narrowed eyes.

"Key word being _proven_, Kim," he mock-lectured. "Prove me that I'm wrong, and let me see what you are really made of…"

Val made a tossing motion with his arms, and both Kim and Ron were suddenly released. He wasn't surprised one bit to see that after untangling themselves, they were anxious to get up and ambush him, just to get the detonator away from his hands. Despite that they were slipping on the wet floor, they approached much faster than he anticipated.

Just as Kim's fingernail was an inch away from the detonator, Val released a kind of spinning kick that sent one leg high in the air, like a round blade, knocking Kim back where she started. As for Ron, Val released his other leg in the same motion, knocking him straight into Kim. If you could trace the motion on paper, it would come out to a perfect circle.

He crossed his arms as he landed on the edge of his toes. "A decisive battle is the only way, you two."

But his finger was nearing the button.

"If you two are just going to use desperate moves, there's no point in a final duel." He actually sighed like a sad child. "How disappointing. I suppose I'll just blow the nuke and go down in history higher than a stoner at Ozzfest."

But before the two could get up, a clicking sound echoed the room. Val hit the detonator.

…

…

…

But nothing happened. And for some reason, his face was calm and humble. Kim and Ron could hear something go off, but it sounded more mechanical than explosive. As their eyes went back to their adversary, they witnessed as he crushed the device in his hand, dropped it, and smashed it further with his boot. He also moved his foot back and forth to make sure there was nothing left of it than scrap metal.

He shook his head and laughed. "Doesn't this remind you of a previous experience, Kimberly Anne?"

Neither she nor Ron answered.

"To make an excellent bluff, you need to have all of the cards up your sleeves."

Kim had actually never told Ron about the warehouse battle, with Val bluffing that he injected him with some deadly virus.

Then it hit her, he actually did it _this_ time. That alone should have made it obvious who their final opponent would be. Kim groaned in thought.

Back to the real problem, Val's mockery didn't ease their suspicions. He did something, but they didn't know what. He decided that since the two were released, he no longer needed his trenchcoat, removing it and giving the two a clear view of how built he was, but also where he had to rip some skin off and with several cuts from the Hind battle. Also, instead of having a left cybernetic hand, he had a left biomechanical _arm_. Kim had a hard time buying his story about being one of the lead mechanics in the Bio-Mech project, but seeing his arm was enough to confirm it.

"The rules for our final duel will not be the same as the last time." He started to sound more excited by the word. "This last battle will strictly be a duel of hand-to-hand combat. There will be no weapons, no gadgets, no battle suits or any of the equipment you're used to. Your only allies are your abilities and surroundings. Don't bother going to that scrap heap, as there's no way either of you will be able to put anything together at all. You'll need your techno wizards for that one. What I did just now was activate the timer for the nukes. Once the nanomachines in my own body see that my vital signs have died, the nukes will be disabled. But if you don't kill me within one hour, it's game over for all of us, and there are no continues."

One hour.

Kim and Ron got into their respective fighting stances. Val on the other hand didn't even need a stance. He just lent his hand outward, gesturing the two to bring it on with the fire nearby reflecting from his eyes.

"Ron, if anything happens to me, _don't_ let him get away."

"Kim, you just heard him, it's killed or be killed."

"It's not going to come to that. No one is going to die tonight… Scratch that, no one else is going to die tonight. He's bluffing."

Ron was skeptical. "I hope you're right. Ready?"

Kim didn't answer immediately, smiling with one green eye and one orange eye from the fire.

"I've been waiting for this for some time. You _bet_ I'm ready."

Her tone changed when she looked into his eyes.

"This one's for you."

The couple winked at each other before they both charged. Side by side, their arms and legs moved in unison, one moving just like the other's reflection. Val let out a satisfied smile as he started to slowly advance forward.

"I've been waiting for this moment… I'm going to enjoy it!"

All of them simultaneously let out battle cries as thunder and lighting collided in the storm, Kim and Val's being the most fierce.

"Come on, you two… show me what you've got!"

And they were both more than eager to accept his challenge.


	22. 21: Bereavement

**Chapter 21: Bereavement**

**

* * *

**

"Come on already!"

Despite the storm, the previous fight, and the fires of the Hind illuminating the floor, it had come down to a final duel between Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, and Valia Ryan once again. At first, Kim was struck in shock to find out her former enemy was alive and quite well, but the shock didn't last for long. She had grown suspicious of his death when Yori mentioned that Sensei had something to do with ending his life, and the one who should've been a zombie explained everything, just like any other villain would. He didn't exactly share the entire truth with the two, but that would come later, if later came.

"Too easy!"

This battle was little more than a political one now. Valia explained not only that he was actually a former agent for the government, but that he had also been in the hero business as well. He also had a partner, killed in action, and it turned out both were sworn to take down their superiors. If anything, they – The Bosses - were the true villains of our time. These were people in the middle of the political grapevine, desiring more and more power for their greedy ends. And the power would be used to create a new world order, ironically one with the ideology of no order. According to Val, these two people were in control of everything that happened in the world, no matter what anybody believed. People's beliefs, religion, views and actions were all staged like a puppet show. Not even the Presidents of any country, those considered the most powerful of their nations, had anything on them. They controlled everything by hand strings with enough power to be almost invincible, but desired more.

"Too weak!"

So Val wanted to destroy them, but not before having Kim, Ron, Jen and Yori take out a thousand bio-mechs, a top-secret project involving walking death tanks and having to hunt down nuclear weapons. The last one had them getting shot down, injured, having to live on rations and having to endure the cold. Then Ron found out the hard way that they weren't real nuclear warheads, almost at the cost of his life, twice over. First, the explosion of the dummy crushed him between a steel door and an iron wall, and a program inside billions of nanomachines made its way into his body, set to kill him within a matter of hours. He made it out just in time.

"You're useless!"

Yori had left the team out of her own emotional weaknesses, and Jen was temporarily incapacitated. Fred Elurt was done for, destroyed by a missile from an armored Hind F, piloted by the puppet master in all of this, Val.

"Come on!"

Kim and Ron had a hard time accepting the fact that someone like him was behind all of this, due to the fact that the last time they fought. Back then, Val was just a teenager with martial arts skills, heartbroken and so full of rage that he wanted to destroy just about everyone responsible for it. He was also obsessed and became arrogant of his abilities, wishing to fight, if not destroy, the new relationship between the two lead members of Team Possible. He proved to be a more difficult fight than first anticipated, but like his opponents, he too had his weaknesses. Three months later, suddenly he's a broken hero who wants to put a stop to political corruption, influenced and provoked by an old partner in battle. But at the same time, he was very much the same. He was ambitious… obsessed with the thought of fighting Kim and Ron in combat again. Not only has he limited them to fight in a pure hand-to-hand duel to the death, but also with a time limit.

"I can read every one of your moves!"

An hour didn't sound too bad, but Kim remembered in the past when she was fighting him in a warehouse, it took her well over an hour to fight him. Not only was she in her battle suit, but she wound up losing the fight. Then again, Val was also in a battle suit, aided by two extra mechanical arms and a metal hand where his left hand should have been. Their last duel took much less time, and Val had taken on the form of a mechanical spider for most of the fight.

"You already tried that!"

Due to Val's speech on his own past and what real heroes were, Kim lost part of her anger toward him. It helped much that Ron was awake and conscious.

"Worthless!"

It helped her mood, but it didn't help anything on the actual fight.

"Too predictable!"

It had been three minutes, but the two could tell that Val had become much more powerful than ever. It wasn't only due to the fact that he was an expert at defensive combat, avoiding his opponents' moves and immediately striking in an open area as he did before. Back then, he probably mixed his defense with three or four other styles, but personalized to the point where it became his own. But this time, every move he delivered was from a different style. He would mix the brute force of Pancratium and Hakkyoku-ken, the speed of Ensei-ken, endless variations of Jujitsu, and he was even copying Kim and Ron's own styles and using their own moves against them! While he was no practitioner on monkey kung fu, he was familiar enough with the Ninjitsu influences, and Tourou-ken (Mantis), the style Kim went with when she took on a serious opponent, was one of the first styles he learned. There were many others he also used, but didn't give Kim or Ron the chance to even recognize it.

"What's wrong with you?"

Even though his styles had increased, he still fought defensively, but countered with a brutal offensive, often delivering blows that would instantly knock the wind out of them, and using his other limbs as hands to toss the two around the area, whether it be his legs or arms. His speed was also unbelievable. When Kim or Ron had to see the other taken down, they couldn't see what Val was doing at all. He was like a ghost, or something you see in the movies. But the two had been trying to use different styles to confuse him, but he countered every move effectively. At times he would appear graceful, others he would move swiftly, and sometimes he would be extremely slow to deliver a powerful move.

"Hah! The Monkey, mostly an air-based style! Effective, but its weakness lies in its own style! You can't attack an opponent who has also gone into mid-air!"

Three minutes turned to ten.

"What's wrong, Kim?"

Ten went to fifteen.

"You're running out of time!"

They couldn't touch him. Every punch, kick, throw and combination move was evaded and countered. No matter where it went, no matter what followed, Val was able to easily move aside, keeping a straight lifeless face with a small curve on the lips as he threw his opponents all over the place. Ron could throw a punch, Val would grab it and use Ron's own momentum against him to hurl him far away, only to find Kim flying at him with an airborne kick, which he would duck low and perform a front somersault, slamming his boot into Kim's neck and sending her crashing against the floor. Most of the time Val would handle one at a time, but there were many times where both attacked at once, but in different areas in an attempt to perplex their opponent. Not even that worked. There was a moment where Kim went for a low sweep while Ron went in for a mid-level kick. This way, if Val went in low to block Kim's attack, Ron would have a clear shot at his neck. He did go in low, but shoved his boots in Kim's face before her leg made contact with Ron, using one hand to balance himself, and used his available hand to grab Ron's leg and tossed him into her.

There were also many moments where he'd strike both at the same time, one being where both Kim and Ron tried to kick him from opposite ends. If he could throw off Ron's kick in the abdomen, he would be struck by Kim's leg in the back. Instead, he hurled his body upside down and flew upward, performing a spinning kick with both legs open, striking Kim and Ron in the same place at the same time.

Most of the fight turned out to be like this, but Val didn't expect for all three of them to be working at high caliber. Even Kim and Ron were able to see his faulty moments, usually when he landed back on his feet, but he was too quick to evade before Kim or Ron could move a muscle to attack. It was clear that they were all shaken by the explosion earlier.

None of this is to say that Val was the only one with improvements. He could see that both of his adversaries had improved drastically since their last conflict. As time passed, he found himself having to block their moves with his limbs when he wasn't able to immediately counter, as it appeared they were somehow studying his moves. He also noticed that Kim learned a few combination moves in the process, using one style for a punch, another for the next, another for the third, and then utilizing a special kick for the end.

Eventually, he wasn't able to simply move aside as he was known for doing before. It was arguable whether or not he was growing weaker, or if his opponents were growing more powerful. Regardless, the duelists would not go easy on each other. Val wanted a final battle before initiating his final operation, Ron was fighting for the sake of duty, but Kim…

She quickly went from cool to just as angry as she did during the Hind battle. She didn't exactly buy every single word that Val said about his past, but she wasn't sure why. Kim wasn't the kind to get heavily political; as a matter of fact she usually avoided it. The reason being is that the final battle with Shego, by nearly killing her, it caught the attention of a lot of politicians who were weary of her line of work. They would have preferred that those in the field shouldn't be so young, and they were quick to conclude that she was still a teenager, and probably doing her work only for the thrill, and not because she really cared for the people. Everyone she saved knew otherwise, but their attempts to defend the cheerleader hero failed. As footage later revealed a sinister smile on Kim's face in the said incident, everyone was quick to judge that Kim was far too dangerous and uncontrollable. Often, this would interfere in both her normal life and missions, due to reporters wanting answers. Thankfully, the Holo-Kim came in extreme handy for that situation, when the real Kim had her dates and private and fluff moments with Ron…

Or at least what she thought was private and fluff moments with him… That was one thing to boil her blood.

Another reason she avoided such things was because she wasn't the type of person to intrude on other's beliefs, whether it be religion, politics, or other things. Often, before and after the Prom, she would have tried to tell Ron not to cheat or be lazy, but she never forced anything out of him. There were some times where Ron's parents would invite her over for dinner when they got together, but there were times where one of his parents were slightly bothered by Kim being a gentile. It didn't bother Ron at all, really. The two weren't really the kinds to bring up religion or politics, not because they wanted to avoid it, but because they both didn't want to impose their thoughts on the other. Not that much different than when they were only considered "Best Friends Forever". She would only hear about it, but she didn't want to force her beliefs on others. She wasn't really the type, and neither was Ron. To them, other things were more important, like each other.

Both were still fighting as hard as they could, but to no avail. There was no need to ask for another opinion that Val was the mastermind. If he was smart enough to dupe her repeatedly on this journey, it wasn't surprising that he had known every one of their styles to the core, especially Ron.

But it was the smile on Val's face that was driving her to the wall. It was the exact same smile that he had fought both with in their last duel, but it was a mixed expression. The smile not only showed how much fun Val was having, but it was also taunting to the core, and he only smiled when he was able to deliver a hit or a reversal move. The only time he didn't smile was when he was evading or appeared disappointed.

While he was moving too fast for Kim to see his face, she did notice one huge difference – his eyes. In their last encounter, Val's eye color was an insipid brown. It didn't appear to have much life in them at all. Many people Kim met on her missions always complimented her on her eyes, due to their energetic color, showing passion. Sometimes monks would tell her that you can see through a person's eyes and straight into her soul, and that was one of the things she looked for when searching for a BF. She never really looked at Ron's until Prom night, but before then, she wasn't sure if the logic was true. In their encounter with Val, it was clear that his eyes were lifeless and passionless, almost telling the same about his soul, so she thought until he revealed what he believed in and went through in high school.

This time, however, his eyes glowed in a sapphire color, as opposed to brown. They seemed to have much more life in them, but at the same time, they were almost scary in the way they glowed. Now that she got a closer view of the scar over his eye, it did look rather old, like it had been there for a few years. She got the impression last time that Val was just a depressed sociopath teen and did acts of self-inflicted pain onto himself.

She didn't know how to explain her thoughts during the fight. At first, she thought she knew a bit of who Val was, but now she felt like she was engaging an unknown enemy. That's not to say _completely_ unknown, as he still did show bitterness towards mention of high school and Michelle. One thing did bother her, though. If Val went from being a hero to a villain, as well as Shego, would she or Ron be next?

Perhaps wasn't the time to think about it as she delivered a punch. Val quickly caught onto it and used her own momentum to flip her onto her back, but not before he attacked with a combo, suspending her body in mid-air with a juggle. It ended when Ron came to intervene with an attempt to clothesline Val from behind, but he saw it coming from a mile away. He quickly somersaulted high onto the ceiling and came crashing down like a meteor onto Ron.

Kim couldn't help but keep her mind busy during the duel. As much as she didn't want to even think about it, Val did have a lot of points she did want to deny. The one that he emphasized on was that Kim wasn't fighting for the sake of duty, but for her own personal vengeance against him due to everything that's been going on. Saving the world was her ultimate priority, even having to cancel out dates with Ron because of it. But she would always make it up to him.

Kim did learn one thing from the last duel with Val. Not only was she able to fight better due to… something she could never figure out, and she was sure it wasn't Ron. It was almost like she underwent some kind of hidden training… Anyway, not only was she able to fight better, but she was able to cope with the fact that on missions, Ron would be hurt. When they were in "Best Friends Forever" mode, they would only freak out if one took serious injury or was knocked unconscious. But when they took it to the next level, things took a heavy change due to their new feelings for each other, and that's when Val entered their lives. Later on, when the Ice Shadows introduced themselves, Kim was able to deal with it better. However, much to her embarrassment, she was usually be the one knocked out, either with a trap on the door, or a tranquilizer dart. Even though Ron told her otherwise, the dart always hit her butt and knocked her out instantly. This of course usually led to Ron and Rufus having to deal with the wannabes on their own. Needless to say, Kim grew a much stronger appreciation for Ron's help, except when he poked fun at her afterwards, which usually resulted in him getting trapped in a locker until Kim forced him to apologize and take back what he said. Sometimes it was in good fun, but sometimes Kim did feel hurt by it. But she would make up for her blunders with a devastating comeback to the last of the Shadows, usually showing no mercy and even breaking the tradition of letting your enemy speak before the fight. Ron wouldn't bring it up to Kim's attention because he feared her, but there were moments where she acted like a different person and scared her enemies away, and it was even scaring him and Rufus.

That was one of many things Ron learned from the moodulator incident: Kim's anger is something to be feared. He didn't get to see most of it on this trip, nor in their previous duel with Val. But it wasn't something he wanted a reminder of.

After recovering from a blow, Ron was able to get a clear few of the fight as Val went on to challenge Kim. Speaking of rage, he could clearly see that Kim was not only performing worse than his sparring matches with her. From Ron's view, it appeared as if Kim was fighting purely out of rage, and it wasn't the first time. He knew that Kim was often infuriated in battle by several of Shego's snide remarks, but an enemy who kept a calm face and a sinister smile the entire time appeared to be more taunting than Kim's old rival.

He was rushing back to where the fight was to engage Val in combat once more, but he couldn't help but feel something was wrong about his girlfriend. Had she been so affected on this mission that she wanted to go all out? Ron kept telling himself that he understood everything Kim was going through, but he was constantly proven wrong. He loved Kim and he knew she loved him, but he had no idea that she was fighting _entirely_ for him. She's dedicated, alright.

But he agreed with Val on the same point Kim acknowledged: She was losing herself. It was definitely not the same Kim Possible that he knew before saving Nakasumi. He should've known that something erupted in her when she let out an angry smile after nearly destroying Shego, but he was too thrilled that Drakken found out his name. And of course, there was the obvious thing…

Ron had to admit, even mentally, that no matter what he and KP thought about, often they would remind themselves of Prom. The one night that changed everything.

And three months later, they were fighting the same person who made his appearance right after the said event. While he felt like he was fighting a much different person, he did have a screwy feeling about Val all this time. He kept trying to tell himself that the news was true and Val had died, but in the back of his mind, he knew he made it out. Why, he didn't know, probably a hunch.

No, that wasn't true at all.

Ron remembered well that immediately after they got home from Prom, he started to suffer from serious nightmares involving his new relationship with Kim. They all had the same message involved; it's going to tank. However, right after Val had made his appearance, they went away, only to come back after he came back from training at Yamanuchi. He could've sworn Val haunted him like a ghost for the next month, but afterward, they died down quickly.

He was convinced that he was indeed dead.

Ironically, after a fight meant to prove to Kim and Ron that nothing was forever, the relationship had grown much stronger once he was considered done for. Both Kim and Ron were well aware of the weaknesses he pointed out, and they chose to work on them during missions. They had grown more affectionate due to the kidnapping.

Unfortunately, with Val's supposed death, a lot of answers were thought to be lost. Kim and Ron never knew what his real motives were with them, why he saved them, exactly how the Crimson Shenitz jewel worked, and more. Wade couldn't find out any information regarding the said jewel, and Nev had gone into hiding for some reason. And even now, after everything Val had said, there were still more answers to be desired.

The fight had already reached a half hour, and everyone was starting to grow weaker. Fortunately, this gave K and R a temporary opening for their enemy, as Val was no exception. Ron went in first to attack with a flying kick that would send him flying past Val, and he would immediately kick before his opponent could turn around. However, just before Ron landed, Val performed his own backflip and landed behind Ron instead, doing the same move, only to find Kim ready to deliver another combo. She had grown predictable, usually ending it with a high spinning kick. Three punches and he would put his head low to evade the incoming kick… at least what he thought was an incoming kick. Out of nowhere, Kim cancelled it halfway through and came back with a fierce uppercut, and even though Val moved his head aside to avoid it, Kim struck him hard in the chin, knocking him into the air. He was easy to catch himself on his feet as he skidded on the floor.

He cracked his neck with a bitter smile on his face, almost appearing unharmed.

"Not bad. There's one problem, however. To initiate a real uppercut with that style, you need a big fist."

Kim gazed at her hand, realizing it wasn't as big as she originally thought. Of course, this is why she went for throws and kicks instead.

Val took the time to align his head back in place, before abruptly being clothes-lined by Ron from behind and above. His face quickly met the soaked marble floor, and Ron wasn't letting him up, using all of his weight to bury Val's skull into the marble further.

"How do you like that? Compliments of Pain King!"

Even in a fight like this, Ron found a way to enjoy the moment. It didn't last long, as he found a foot on his abdomen and was pushed off. Val spun on his head and used the momentum to put himself back on his feet, shaking the water from his hair.

"Impressive, attacking from the dark. Too bad the score is far from even. Come on, this is no fun…"

But the fight continued with Val as head of the game. Kim tried to resort to throw moves from behind and allow for Ron to attack from the front, but Val was able to escape at the last minute. Ron was no more successful when he tried the same thing and switched position with Kim. When they resorted back to offensive maneuvers, Kim and Ron were caught inadvertently attacking each other, due to Val moving out of the way at the last millisecond. No matter how hard they tried, Val didn't slow down. No matter what techniques they used, he knew of their openings and weaknesses, always doing everything a millisecond before contact.

But Kim and Ron came to realize something, something they should have realized easily from the blows they received from Val. Many of them were weak, and it was due to his speed. To the best of their knowledge, speed and power are two separate things in combat. If your moves were swift, they would often be weak. If your moves are slow, it's due to power being used. But this would depend on the style. If they had been facing a fighter who used the fastest moves that did insane damage with every strike, they would be in serious trouble. Val was not such the opponent.

Such information wouldn't quite give them the physical advantage, but if gave them an idea as to why he wasn't using slow and powerful moves as often. Val wanted an everlasting duel. If he used only brute force, he could end the fight quickly, but he found no fun in a fight that lasted only a few seconds. He wanted to fight to his heart's content, and he didn't want the adrenaline to be put to waste. He would fight the two for hours if he could, and at this rate, Team Possible may inadvertently grant him that wish.

This was why they were losing the battle. Kim and Ron were much more focused on brute force, but their moves were in slow speed, while Val was using his swiftness to evade and counter. With the openings available, he was able to execute his own slow and powerful moves.

A change of strategy was in place.

So instead of trying to perform moves that would instantly do vigorous damage, they needed to copy Val's style. Again, they went to strike him in unison, but he pulled off a surprise move from long ago. He simply moved aside, grabbed the back of their heads, and slammed them into each other. Like before, it almost rendered them unconscious.

"I stand corrected." Val spoke with disappointed amusement. "You have a few skills up your sleeves, no doubt about it, but you're going about this all wrong. No matter how many styles you have knowledge in, you both need to learn how to utilize each and every one of them to their full potential. I'm familiar with every move you're throwing at me. Speed determines the winner in kung fu, but this is no ordinary fight."

Kim coughed as she tried to get on her knees. "Why are you telling us this?"

Val shrugged his shoulders in a relaxed manner. "I like to spread the word. You have other things to be concerned about, no?"

The auburn-haired girl tried to get up, but almost fell flat on her face, feeling the pain.

She was quite far from unconscious, but instead of finishing the fight, Val took the moment to stretch. This allowed Kim to get an up-close-and-personal view of his new mechanical arm, remembering his old metal hand. The hand was a bit bigger than the other one, and human asymmetry didn't have much to do with it. However, the new arm was perfectly scaled to his right human arm. What surprised her was that he was very well built, but probably 175 at the most. He wasn't a huge monster like Elurt was, and skinny in contrast. She also noticed that the metal wasn't as thick as she thought. She took a blow from the left metallic fist, but it felt no stronger than bone. If she had known any better, it weighed no more or less than his other arm. Unlike his metal hand in the past, he didn't cover up the internal machinery with a cover. This arm had actually resembled a skeletal arm, but had wires running through the shiny dark blue metal.

She managed to get on her feet the same time Ron did, although he looked a bit more shaken.

"Kim…" he whispered, "He's too strong. We've gotta think of something."

Kim had a disappointed look on her face. "Ron, don't give up. He had his weaknesses last time, and he has them now."

"Kim, we already tried to do what he last time with the ambush, but he's too fast."

"Ron, don't give up on me! If we can't stop him now, who knows what he'll unleash on this world?"

Ron sighed. "You're right. I dunno how, but we've got to stop him."

"Ron, I've got an idea."

Val watched as Kim decided to whisper some information directly into Ron's ear. He couldn't hear what they were saying with the storm and all, but he grew curious as to what his opponents had planned for him. The information he did gather, though, was where Kim and Ron moved their eyes to: The ceiling and the Hind. Clearly, one was going to attack high, and one was going to use the remains of the helicopter.

He smiled in amusement, and Kim and Ron made their move.

To Val's surprise, not only did Ron run straight for the wall, but he also ran up on it all the way to what was left of the ceiling, which was at least a good 30 feet high, like all of the floors on the building. Ron somehow thrusted himself off the ceiling and was flying at full speed towards Val. Not only that, but while Ron was getting into position, Kim ran up to the demolished Hind and grabbed onto one of the propeller blades, using her momentum to spin around the entire vehicle. She was also building up speed somehow, starting to spin faster and faster until she was nearly rendered invisible. When she let go, she also launched herself straight for him.

Val just stood calmly, impressed at his opponent's creativity as they flew towards him. This was all too easy.

Just before Kim and Ron were inches away from him, he took a long step back, sending the two on an unavoidable collision course. It wasn't long before they bounced off each other like rubber balls. Even Val himself flinched. Once he opened his eyes, he saw the two lying on the floor with their lips touching the concrete.

"You know, in movies, when people have bullets, missiles, or giant boulders charging straight at them, they never think as to simply move aside."

Neither Kim nor Ron responded. Val waited for a few seconds, but neither of them moved.

They knocked each other out.

Val groaned. "How disappointing. I can't believe I never anticipated _this_ as a possibility."

At the same time he couldn't hold his laughter, looking high onto the sky and staring at the moon while bursting out into hysterical laughter.

There was no way he could ever take Kim Possible or Ron Stoppable seriously now.

When he lowered his face to look at them again, he was sent backward, making impact with the glass window and cracking it. When his vision became clear, he saw Kim and Ron standing up side to side with their fists extended.

He fell for a game of possum. Clever.

"Hah! I can't say that I expected that one! Brilliant!" he laughed.

Ron chuckled. "That's definitely worthy of a Booyah!"

Val adjusted his jaw as he got up. "Indeed, but I'm far from finished."

"More surprises, KP?"

"I'll think of some more," she answered.

Val shook his head. "Don't think you're the only ones full of them. I have one special one planned out for you two, but that'll come later."

Kim accepted the challenge. "Just try to surprise me."

Val clenched his teeth as he smiled. "Be careful what you wish for…"

* * *

Somewhere else in a dark room, a weakened silhouette enters some kind of dark hangar. There's no way to see in the pitch-black area, but several metal footsteps are heard… ascending. 

More noise is heard as something opens, revealing some kind of control interface.

MILITARY POWER ASSAULT WALKING VEHICLE: HARPUIA ACTIVATED

"_You'll pay for this, you son of a bitch…"_

_

* * *

_

The fight on the final floor of the Tower continued on. Valia was treated to a much more entertaining show from Team Possible. While he was able to easily read their moves due to his knowledge of the styles, both came back with surprising techniques from time to time, often ending up with him on the floor. He was also impressed that the two had so much energy in them. Kim could be thrown against the Hind and be ready to go in an instant, almost unharmed. The same went for Ron, whose expertise was starting to show, easily proving to Val that he was the better fighter and not the fiery-haired cheerleader. It couldn't be determined, however, whether or not it was due to his Monkey Kung Fu coming back.

It got to the point where Val didn't care about defense. He found it to be much more of a thrill to be hit and thrown all over the place as opposed to simply moving aside and seeing your opponents being made fools of. He didn't care about his reasoning for anything that went on in the last couple of weeks. He was going to enjoy this moment as if it were his last. This wasn't to say he let down his guard or lowered his defenses. He simply went to an offensive style, and as before, his offense was no less deadly than his defense. Kim and Ron would be forced to block multiple attacks at once, and by this we mean at the exact same time, as Val was taking on both at once with punches and kicks. Either he would attack Ron on his left and Kim on his right, or use his fists against one and his feet against the other. He hardly gave them any breathing room to do anything but defend themselves. The intensity on their faces refused to dimmer, and that was exactly what kept Val's adrenaline running. His opponents were the only two people on the planet that could give him this kind of rush.

At least, that's what one would quickly assume.

What Kim and Ron would probably never realize is that Val chose them not only because of their abilities, but for who they were. He found a particular liking to each of them. He was interested in their lives, their hobbies, their thoughts and beliefs, almost seeing them as friends. He had a hidden admiration for both, but he had a distorted view on meeting those you admire. Usually when people meet celebrities, they want to spend a day with them, but for Val, a sparring match would do well. But in this case, a decisive battle was a dream come true. He loved to see teenagers not limit themselves to society, seeing that the two are already years ahead of their time.

It would not be something he would tell the two up front, if at all. At first he thought they only got together just for the sake of dating, but upon seeing their progress throughout the mission, he grew to envy them.

If he could only tell the two the real truth of what was going on, but that would destroy everything.

However, as the fight continued on, something else was starting to bother him. Kim. It wasn't the fact that she resembled an old crush or anything of the sort.

Ron was fighting on his limited potential. He was doing extremely well for not having the powers of the Mystical Monkey helping him, and Val could easily see why. Compared to Kim, Ron was calm and relaxed on a sunny day driving a Ferrari. This was why he was doing so well, because his mind wasn't at a dangerous extreme like Kim. While she had calmed down from earlier, especially from the kiss earlier, Kim was still fighting mostly out of anger. She couldn't bring herself to fight Valia to save the world, but to make him suffer for putting Ron through all the hell of this operation. It didn't help that Valia didn't show any kind of regrets.

And he didn't. If there was another thing he liked about these two, it was how they evolved as people. In the time the two had gotten together, many of their own weaknesses had diminished severely, and many of their strengths have grown. There was one weakness that didn't diminish, however – their hidden anger. While Ron wasn't the type of person to stay angry, Kim was, and it showed. Very strange.

Valia didn't expect for Kim to walk into this fight as a happy cheerful girl, but he didn't expect for her to lose touch in who she was or what she stood for. It appeared that his research about the moodulator was indeed correct. It didn't amplify existing feelings – it revealed them. Coincidentally, they were feelings that Kim refused to show. But now, she was acting no different than when she was wearing the device. She had cried several times already, mostly for Ron's sake. Even before the operation, before the couple's first fight with Elurt, she had been very fluffy and bubbly with Ron around, often freaking him out with her advances even with the fact that they were dating. She had also shown a lot of confusion. When it came to things Kim knew, she could figure out anything in a snap, but when it came to things she had no idea existed, which was just about everything this mission had to offer, she was clueless.

And the obvious: Anger. This also proved something true to Val – bottle your real anger for so long, and it's bound to get the best out of you. Even he knew that you had to sometimes let everything out, and Kim clearly refused to, fearing it would make her appear weak. No wonder she must have freaked out when the night of the said incident was all over.

Poor girl, having no idea everything that's been going on in her life since her mission was well documented. Another thing Val didn't tell them was that he didn't document every single thing all by himself. He had a little… 'help' by Team Impossible, and by 'help', we mean 'hacking into their computers and stealing their information'. However, Team Impossible - now a league within Global Justice for over four months – disabled their security systems for their computers as they were no longer a solo team. Only within a few more days would they delete all of the information on their hard drives, or transfer it to the GJ database, but not before anything relevant to the keywords "Kim" and "Possible" were hacked into and copied without a trace. By this, Val avoided being spiked.

The fight raged on. After several strikes, blows, counters and throws were being performed by everyone, Valia was starting to grow more irritated by Kim's fighting. He had a much more difficult time handling Ron at some times, but Kim was clearly a pushover. Even if Valia was acting like a lunatic, he was able to maintain his composure. No one can think clearly when their minds are infested with total and complete anger. Even if Kim wasn't as bent on taking him out, it was still apparent it was there, and she wasn't fighting at her full potential at all. She threw many moves without thinking, making them easily predictable in the eyes of her adversary.

And in all reality, Valia wasn't interested in fighting Ron at all. He already had an excellent mix of serenity and martial arts skills, but he didn't have the quick brain that Kim did, who he was more interested in. To him, she had so many more flaws than her BF, most which became apparent in the dating. It wasn't just her feelings for Ron, but she still hadn't diminished all of her insecurities. In Val's logic, the more you try to hide things, the more apparent they become. Ron didn't have much to hide at all. While he had his fears about the relationship very early on, around the time they met him, things changed. It was Ron who became more confident in the relationship, but Kim was the one who went the other way around. At first, she felt like she was doing the right thing when they got together, but now she was constantly worried. It wasn't because she feared about breaking up with him, but if anything happened, he would be the one to dump her. And like the moodulator incident, he would if it were for the better.

That was another thing that bothered Val. He knew of this even though Kim never told Ron about this hidden fear.

But that was just one of many. While the world had grown to know that Kim Possible was the superior team member, Val knew that when it came to their inner spirits, Ron was better than Kim in so many ways. He would easily accept the bizarre reality of everything, and even if Kim were injured, he would still fight. He might not have been the most logical thinker, but it made him human. He was afraid of just about anything, but that wouldn't stop him from rushing into every one of those dangers.

No, Ron was already well-suited for this career. The only problem with the fight was that Val too knew of Ninjitsu, not giving Ron a break there.

But he had a specific fascination with Kim. Whether or not it was because of who she was or what she was, she needed to learn something by the end of this. He couldn't explain why he felt the need to do this. Sharing wisdom? Spreading the truth? Hard to tell.

But the only way for her to realize these things was to talk to her alone. That meant one thing: Get rid of Ron. He could fight without her, but she couldn't fight without him. He told himself this even though she was able to shoot down the Hind that he was piloting earlier. No, Ron would go into battle immediately, knowing full well that Kim would be fine. Kim on the other hand would sulk and brood, fearing that Ron may never come out of this alive, even though she tried to reassure him several times that she knew of his strengths. If anything, she was lying to herself.

That was the problem with the fight. Ron didn't think at all when performing his moves, giving Val a harder time to predict what was coming his way. On the other hand, Kim spent too much time thinking without a clear mind, performing much worse than he hoped. He started to question how was it that Kim beat Shego so many times, but he realized that Shego was also full of rage just by the sight of Kim. While Monkey Fist was a better practitioner than Shego, his arrogance always resulted in his defeat. He always overestimated his own abilities, yet underestimated everyone who stood in his way.

Kim also had the same flaw at times, but knew when to take some enemies seriously. This would often be too late, though. He clearly remembered their first encounter with the bank heist, where Kim didn't expect to fight a practitioner in martial arts, falling faster than gravity should allow. It was _after_ that that she knew she was facing a fierce opponent.

Time was starting to grow short. He didn't want for it to come down to it, but one member of Team Possible had to be taken out permanently. If Kim was going to see the error of her ways, see the truth, and fight with her full potential, Ron had to be taken out of the picture.

The hidden surprise.

"We've already hit 45 minutes, you two, and I've still got enough left in me to do this over and over again. Maybe I should deliver a time extension… or not."

Kim was growing exhausted again, but Ron was ready to go in full force.

Ron chuckled at the threat. "Dude, you won't kill us. What fun will that be in the end?"

Valia didn't immediately answer. Maybe Stoppable was that good after all. Instead, he yawned.

"Never be so certain of your opponents…" he humbly replied.

With this, Ron let out a huge battle cry as he leapt toward the wall and right into Val with his elbow extended. Val knew what was to come, due to being hit by this move already. Ron would appear to go in for an elbow charge, but at the last minute change it into a swift kick. And that's exactly what Ron did. There was an opening in his abdomen from this, and Val quickly took advantage of it, leaping into the air as he thrusted his knee into Ron's abs, then performing a backflip kick, grabbing Ron's neck by the foot and hurled him backward.

The blow immediately knocked him unconscious, and he was sent crashing out the window and off the building.

Kim gasped in horror was she witnessed it. "RON!"

She quickly got up and ran past Val to the edge. She quickly went for her grappling gun, but…

"No equipment, Kim!"

She forgot that she had nothing on her. There was no time to think. She would always latch onto something with her grappling hook and go flying in after him, but this wasn't an available option. She was clearly in a bind.

This only meant one thing: The last resort. Even if she had to die, she was going to die doing what she did best: Saving others, or at least try.

Val watched as Kim took a step forward on thin air and quickly fell.

However, Kim noticed that she wasn't falling, and that something was keeping her up. Before she could come up with an answer, Valia had already thrown her back into the room by her shoulders, slamming her into the Hind. The blow should have knocked Kim out, and if Val had used further force, he would have easily dislocated both of her shoulders.

He roared at Kim with absolute disgust in his voice. "Don't you have _other_ things to be concerned about? So that's it? Ron dies and you give up on the rest of the world?"

Kim was constantly trying to squeeze free but she was pinned hard. Val's grip would definitely leave a bruise behind, and her body was only leaving a heavier dent in the Hind by the second.

"Actually, I DO!" she yelled, delivering a hard head-butt into Val and breaking free.

But when she returned to the edge of the roof, she couldn't see Ron anymore. He had disappeared into the darkness.

"Ron…?"

It was useless. Even if Kim dove after him, she would never reach him.

"Ron…"

It was over.

It actually happened.

She failed.

Team Possible was reduced by one.

"RRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!"

Instantly, Kim underwent a change in appearance. Her face quickly went pale, the saturation in her green eyes almost died completely, as did part of her hair. Everything in her mind instantly went to hell, unable to grasp what just happened. If Ron didn't have any equipment on him either, and was knocked out, there was no way he could save himself even if he regained consciousness on the fall.

"I failed…"

A huge part of her died. Every ounce of Kim's self-esteem instantly went down the tubes, among other things. She could save the world and so many people, but not her life partner, the one she loved. Never did a mission failure result in someone dying, at least up until now. At this point, she had already collapsed on her back, almost in a fetal position as she burst into tears. She was quick to soak the floor faster than the rain, forgetting everything else. Nothing else existed anymore.

"Ron… I'm sorry… Forgive me…"

"He can't forgive anyone anymore… not in the state he's in…"

Almost instantly, Val found himself being held in the air by the collar, with hell fire in Kim's eyes.

"SHUT UP!" she screamed.

He didn't seem intimidated. "So that's it? One member is off the team, and Kim Possible succumbs to nothing but a memory?"

While Kim tried to keep him up by the throat, her arms were trembling too much to keep him suspended in the air. She collapsed onto her knees as she let go of him, and he was quick to land on his feet. If he thought he had seen Kim cry before, he hadn't seen anything up until now.

"You see? If you weren't able to save the person you love, what makes you think you're more than qualified to save anybody else?" he taunted with heavy hatred and anger in his voice.

Even if he wasn't smiling or speaking in a humble tone, his presence alone was more than enough to provoke Kim to an extreme. Without thought, she leapt at him in an attempt to strike, but when she landed, she found herself tasting wet marble on the opposite side of her enemy.

"Don't you understand, Kim? _This_ is the grim reality of hero work! People die!"

Kim refused to get up.

Val's tone suddenly changed. "So this wasn't the life you wanted after all…"

These words finally forced her to get up, now with a bitter hatred in her face that not even Val was familiar with.

"What are you talking about? I've _never_ wanted anything like this!" she yelled.

Val pitifully shook his head. "You're a terrible liar, Kim. I've seen the family pictures, I've read your online diary, I've read the interviews and everything. You didn't enjoy being a regular high school family girl, growing tired of being treated like a child by your parents and so many others. I know full well that one of your hidden desires of going steady with Ron was that they would realize their little girl was growing up. But no, your grandmother treats you like a little girl, your parents still want you to sing along in road trips, and while Ron does, you have no intention to. And I do recall the tree house conversation."

"What? I never talked about that to anyone! You weren't even around then!"

"That's what you thought, but it turns out syntho-ex was standing in front of the tree house the same time you entered. He wasn't just standing there; he was recording information to be sent to Drakken. He would have been wise to delete the information before his capture, but he really did think he was going to win. Needless to say, he didn't hide it very well."

"Get to the point already!"

"_'We're not kids anymore, Ron. Time to Grow Up'_. Sound familiar? Well, this is the sad reality of it, Kim. If you want to get away from the usual textbook villains and move onto the real deal, you'd better be ready for it. And clearly, you're not. Everything you perceive to be reality is nothing more than an illusion. The real world is a dark and brutal place, and what you've gone through is nothing. In comparison to everything I've seen, this last exercise is just as difficult as turning on the TV. This is what happens when you grow up, Kim. You see reality for what it is, and it's much more petrifying than fiction itself. Unfortunately, it always comes at a brutal cost. People lose their innocence, your friends betray you, you're forced to end your friendship or alliance with them, people change, some move far away, and some die."

Kim continued to sulk. "So you had to kill Ron to prove some kind of point? You're insane!"

He didn't answer. If he didn't have regret or any kind of emotion for what he just did, he couldn't have been human at all.

Her rage and sorrow had her looking for something to quickly finish this fight. She realized she wasn't too far away from her equipment, and despite the earlier warning, the first thing she went for was a Desert Eagle pistol, the only weapon given to her that wasn't taken apart piece by piece. Val took the role of an observer as he witnessed Kim slowly crawl to reach the gun. After the grabbed it, she slowly got up and groggily walked toward him.

Before long, she was digging the barrel as far into his head as hard as she could.

"If Ron dies… he won't go alone…" she sobbed.

Val let out an exasperated sigh. "You can't really shoot that thing, Kim. A gun's not your weapon. Look at you; you're not the type of girl that kills. It's not like you to do anything more to your villains than to merely put a stop to their plans. Well, I suppose Shego would disagree…"

He took a moment to gaze into Kim's insipid green eyes.

"Maybe I was wrong about you. Sure, the phrase 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' does have strong meaning, but it certainly does not apply in a hand-to-hand fight. Your rage definitely doesn't help you fight any better. All it does is scramble your mind."

Kim dug the barrel further into his skin, clearly showing anger towards his lectures. Val focused his eyes on the gun on his head.

"So this is what it finally comes down to. You're going to become the very thing you swore to fight against… You've changed."

Tears kept flowing out of her eyes as her arm violently trembled.

"You killed Ron and you're trying to give me advice?"

"Why not?" he calmly asked. "Someone has to know the truth, Kimberly, but only a small number would truly understand it. I thought that with your mix of skill, beauty and brains, you would heed the warnings delivered to you, and make the right choices from then on. It's what your life mostly consisted of, but for the last eighteen years, you've lived in a fairy tale. Save the world, do homework, finish chores; a little girl scout. Now you think you can just dance with your BF and no one would interfere. I'm not the only one who's going to use your love for him against you. And this is nothing."

"I've had a few of those Ice Shadow wannabes of yours try the same thing!" she cried.

The gun went left and right as Val shook his head again. "I had nothing to do with those puppets, remember? They were manipulated by The Bosses."

Kim was almost starting to fume at the mouth. "And The Bosses! How do I know you're just making that stuff up? I don't even know WHAT to believe what's coming out of your mouth!"

His eyes narrowed from boredom. "I suppose that's a trait someone gets when they're forced to mix what people believe to be truth and lie for a few years in the government. Not even you can distinguish the differences between such things. This is what has become of our generation… People don't listen to truth or do the right thing. They develop their own definitions of both, and they are always flawed in so many ways. There's a reason most people don't respect younger heroes like us, Kim…"

Kim pushed the gun harder as 'hero' hissed out of his mouth, but Val knew no fear.

"… Do you know why? It's because as teenagers we believe we know so much about the world, but the reality of it is that we know nothing at all. Sometimes when we find the truth, the real truth, we all try to escape it at some point. There's nothing but more pain and suffering down the line, Kim. Bloodshed, torture, betrayal …death, an endless life of battle. One that no one who walks down the path can ever escape. Not me, and not you, no matter how many times you tell yourself that you can just settle down with a family and end your career. Unless you go into exile and start a family on a forbidden island, you'll be hunted down by those who require your services, and soon, every villain you can imagine."

"But Ron's dead! What's the point of it anymore! I can't even save the world without him…" she brooded.

"Fear is the mind killer," he hummed. "Just as I said before…"

He didn't appear to be disconcerted with a gun at his head the whole time. From here, he took something from his pant pocket.

A small box with round edges.

"He already made the preparations to buy this for that special moment. I took it from him before you both recovered from the Hind battle."

Was that? No, it couldn't be.

An _engagement_ ring?

Kim's eyes widened.

"GIVE IT!"

But Val wouldn't let her touch it, slapping her hand aside as he put the box back into his pocket. She didn't even take the gun from his head.

"I can't allow you to see this. Why ruin the surprise? I will tell you, however, that it matches your eyes quite nicely."

"That's not yours!"

"I prefer to hold it for the time being. You never know…"

Why was he talking like this? Kim saw what happened, and only dug the gun further. At this point, Val's back was slanted at a 45 degree angle.

He kept his focus on Kim's trembling hands. "If you're going to shoot me, then shoot me!"

But she wouldn't. He took the moment to take two long steps backward, now with a nice ring-shaped embedding on his forehead. He opened his arms up in a welcome gesture.

"I'll give you a free shot. I've already been shot in the head and the heart before, Kim, so don't take your time. After all, the clock is still ticking. You don't have too much time left."

There was still a smile on his face, but it wasn't one meant to taunt his rival.

Kim trembled more and more, to the point where the gun wasn't aimed anywhere near her opponent. She kept telling herself her trigger finger was getting twitchy.

Out of nowhere, she collapsed on her knees.

She couldn't do it.

"I'm no killer…"

Out of frustration, she threw the gun as hard as she could against the floor, but let out a yelp with the sound it made. It wasn't the sound of a gun hitting the floor.

It was the sound of a gunshot.

When the gun came to rest, it was pointing at her enemy and there was smoke coming out of the barrel.

But Val didn't appear to be harmed in any way, noticing the bullet didn't penetrate the metal on his left arm.

He didn't appear surprised in any way. "Hmm… Too bad, Kim. I don't have any nerves there. Right now there's no possible way to program fake nerves to send pain signals to your brain in biomechanical limbs."

It didn't appear as if Kim was paying attention. But she knew one thing, the gun was loaded. She was willing to try again.

Val just watched silently as Kim leaned toward the gun, grabbed it, and pointed it at him again.

This time, it was aimed below the belt.

"Well, that's quite low, isn't it Kim?"

"I want this to end NOW! When this is all over, I don't want to see you ever again…" she weakly hissed.

Val scoffed. "Fair enough. But there's still one problem…"

"Don't tell me that area is also…"

Kim focused her attention onto the biomechanical arm.

"No, I wouldn't be alive if that were the case. Allow me to demonstrate."

Before Kim could interpret the words, Val grabbed the gun from her hands, aimed it straight at her head, and pulled the trigger. Kim could only close her eyes and yelp when she heard the noise.

…

…

…

Gunshots don't sound like clicks. She slowly opened her eyes, finding Val in the exact same position as before. He started laughing as he threw the gun straight at her head, knocking her back a few steps.

"You can't hurt someone with an empty clip, Kimbo! I gave you a gun, but I only loaded it with one bullet. There goes your chance after all."

How embarrassing.

But to the surprise of both Kim and Val, another gunshot was heard, and it didn't come from the Desert Eagle. Before Kim could focus her eyes to where the sound came from, Val had already pulled out a sword and sliced the oncoming projectile perfectly in half. Sure enough, it was a bullet.

When the two of them focused on whoever fired the shot, their eyes led them to where the stairs were. Someone armed with an assault rifle was standing there. Blonde.

"Jen!"

The girl slowly advanced forward, clearly astonished by the scenery. "Holy hell. Demolished Hind, plenty of flames, half of the ceiling and walls destroyed, wow. Remind me not to be late for the party again."

Kim dove out of the way as Val became the only thing visible in the scope of Jen's rifle.

"So it _was_ you, Valryan…"

"Valryan?" Kim asked.

"Dive Valve was one of many codenames, I said." Val answered. "So we have the luscious 'Gold Viper' back on the team. I suppose that makes up for the loss…"

Kim didn't even need to ask this one. No surprise Jen also used a codename to hide herself. What's up with people and codenames these days?

"Loss?" Jen asked. "What are you…"

She paused when she noticed Ron wasn't anywhere in sight, but was quickly able to see some blood on the cracks of the broken windows. The deranged look on the red-head's pale face could only mean…

"You didn't…"

Val didn't answer, but Jen already figured out the answer. Ron had indeed fallen.

"You bastard…!"

Even though Jen was quickly advancing on to get a much better shot at him, Val didn't appear afraid, getting a firm grip on the handle of his blade.

"You can't harm me with such weapons," he taunted.

Jen didn't buy the threat at all. "So you want me to finish him off, Kim, or would you rather have the honor?"

"She can't fire a gun and kill anyone, Jen." Val intervened. "She's far too green, more than her eyes."

Jen groaned. "I was afraid of that. Oh well. I guess you need some killing, too."

Before Kim could tell her to stop, Jen quickly opened fire and unleashed a storm of bullets onto her foe. It wasn't long before her face also went pale. Val was not only moving the sword in an inhuman fashion, to the point where the sword was almost rendered invisible in its speed, but he was deflecting every single bullet that Jen was firing at him. The rifle quickly went dry, and Val didn't have a scratch on him.

"The hell?"

Val laughed a small tune. "Sorry for cheating with my biomechanical arm, but I don't prefer to be taken down with such… _petty_ weapons."

Well, at least one thing made sense. Val deflected the bullets with his mechanical hand. It probably would have had an extremely painful and irreversible effect on his muscles had he used the other one.

He didn't allow his guard to drop as Jen went for another weapon. "You're going to try again? Didn't you learn anything the first time?"

"I am a slow learner," she replied as she loaded the weapon.

But before Jen could pull the trigger, the barrel was already sliced in half. Not only that, but every weapon she had on her suffered the same fate, even her explosives and melee weapons. She was quickly and completely disarmed.

Jen was amused. "So the word about you is true. You really are that fast."

Val laughed as he decided to show off how capable he was with a sword. "Guilty as charged."

He wasn't interested in fighting the gunslinger at all, so he stood calmly and swung the sword around as Jen went to help Kim up.

"Kim? You okay?"

"Ron… I couldn't save him…" she sulked.

Jen tried as hard as she could to hide her own grief, but grabbed Kim by the shoulders. "So what now? You've made it this far, and you're going to give up?"

Kim sniffed. "The real nukes are set to go off in a few minutes… What's the point? He's gone. The guy who's been there for me for all but four years of my life is gone forever."

"Kim…"

Jen sighed. Kim had broken down to the point where she couldn't go on and fight anymore. She didn't even have it in her to fight the one responsible, not with the skills he had.

"I don't know how to stop him. I've tried everything, and all the weapons and gadgets have been taken apart. I've got nothing…"

While Jen could see the pain in Kim's heart, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

It was actually Prom night all over again, only this time Kim wasn't tied up to a giant cactus.

"Kim, are you really going to just let him win? Ron always went on when you were taken out in a fight, and you were bent on getting your fingers dirty with Val. What would Ron want? You're only going to blame yourself if more people die! It's not worth it!"

Kim just slammed the back of her head against the Hind, putting quite a dent in it. Jen quickly gave Val an evil glare just to make sure he was right where she left him, and put her attention back to Kim. But the redhead wouldn't answer. Because of this, Jen decided to get up and talk to the puppet master herself. She wasn't armed, but she wasn't afraid of those she heard of. Reputations only meant so much these days.

"So why, Val? What was the point of killing Ron? So you could see Kim like this? You're just some damn sadist."

Val disagreed, crossing his arms as he started to walk to her side. The two were circling each other shortly after.

"Removing Ron from the picture was never the real objective, despite all that has happened to him. It was simply done to prove a point. Kimberly here is not fighting me to save the world, for the sake of duty, or to protect anyone but our beloved Ron. It's true, that this whole operation was schemed and orchestrated to tug at her heartstrings, a weakness most are able to hide, but not her. From our first battle, I knew full well that Ron Stoppable was her primary weakness, especially since they had just gotten together. Several things change in a relationship. While results may vary, the two became much more serious in their viewpoints of each other, and to see each other get hurt was taken to new levels. Kim would freak out if Ron were hurt, while he already did so earlier."

Jen agreed to an extent, but didn't feel any less anger toward her foe. "It's true that relationships often get teen heroes and agents killed, especially when both are in combat together. So what else?"

"Reading all of the newspaper articles, online documents, from the internet to government computers, I wanted to see if she really was worthy of being dubbed a true hero, and not just some high school girl who saves people."

"But isn't that it? Doesn't saving people make you a hero?"

"Don't be a fool!" he objected as he threw his arms into the air. "Actions alone do _not_ determine a hero. It's the inner spirit that does. Real heroes are able to confront their worst fears, physically or mentally, and for the sake of doing the right thing. They don't think about their own desires and ambitions, but to do what is best for everybody on this planet."

"And you're saying Kim's not that?"

"This entire operation has proven me just that. Yes, she saves the world, but not worthy of the title 'Hero' or 'Heroine', if I must be politically correct… She didn't come all the way up here to fulfill her duty and save the world, but she came up here for her own vengeance. She wanted to destroy whoever put her dear Ronnie through so much hell. I never intended for him to die. While the explosion at the hangar was completely out of my hands, it appeared his mystical monkey power saved him. The nanomachines were merely a test as well. But instead of leaving Ron behind and continue to save the world, all she did was cry and mope."

"A test, huh? I'm guessing that still has something to do with erasing emotions from a fighter in an attempt to make them stronger?"

"So you've heard of 'her' work, have you?"

Jen smiled. "That, and I know it failed you before when you tried it to make Kim and Ron fight against each other. It didn't take Kim that long to catch onto it again on the ride back here to the states, unless that was your intention."

"It actually was."

Jen's eyes widened. "Are you serious? Why?"

Val yawned and scratched his neck. "Throughout her career, she, Ron and all of their villains have used repeated methods against each other. Yet, they're _always_ surprised. Wanted to see if she evolved any since the last time we met."

"And the virus?"

"Just a time attack. Actually, there was no threat behind it. If you know your codes, you can easily trick hackers."

"So it wasn't some assassination weapon?"

"No, just a program that said it was. Yes, you can program apoptosis in nanomachines, but you need actual biological cells to be released to infect the heart."

Well, that was unexpected. If only Nev and Wade were here to hear this one.

"Okay, so you repeatedly used her weakness over and over again. Let me guess, some research about a scorned woman being the ultimate weapon?"

"When several scientists believe so, you wonder. That also included Kim's arch foe, Lipsky, and Shego got a good taste of it. Unfortunately, I forgot; just like high school, popularity and things in high numbers are really _not_ worth pursuing. When programmed to listen to your commands, it's one thing, but to have someone scorned and still have free will, it's another. I forgot the popularity means nothing more than a lot of idiots agreeing on the same thing, the one thing without exceptions."

"So you did everything just to provoke Kim to a final fight using Ron?"

"She has to get that anger out of her somehow. Really, Kim, was the relationship _that_ bad if you had to channel so much anger out earlier?"

Both Val and Jen turned toward the pale redhead.

"No… high school," she weakly replied.

Val exhaled. "I commend you for placing proper credit where it's due, unlike every other peon on this planet. Not even high school was much of a happy place for even you. So much stress in between homework, cheerleading, swim team - which was only one year - community service and saving the world. Didn't you learn anything from the Moodulator incident? Bottling up such emotions is dangerous to your health, you know."

Kim's face was still full of dry tears. "You're not saying the moodulator caused those 'bottled' feelings to just burst out of nowhere for that reason alone… I talked to Dr. Bortel about it. That was _hardly_ the reason."

"That's not what I'm getting at. I could care less _why_ you bottle everything in. Whether it's the tough girl attitude to intimidate your foes, or because you feel that's really you, you're still human. I know you. It's not that you're incapable of showing sadness, fear, anger, hatred and more – the feelings of the device - you just refuse to show it because you're still afraid of how everyone perceives you. Friends, family, fans, and enemies. Even though you thought you found real happiness with Stoppable… old habits die hard."

Kim sighed. Was it this obvious?

Jen was curious with Val's knowledge. "How do you know all this?"

"Other then spying on her, high school's taught me how people tick. They're not that different from celebrities and those who run our country."

"What? The president?"

"Hah! Of course not… 'Them', the ones I'm going to fight against…."

"Them? You mean… The Bosses?" Jen's eyes widened in realization. "Valryan versus The Bosses? Wow…"

Kim didn't even bother to think that Jen might have known more about everything, although the blonde didn't really see Val as the mastermind or his involvement with The Bosses for that matter.

Val chose to walk backwards as he continued to circle around Jen. "It's either I destroy them and anyone who gets in my way, rather than have them rule the world with the chaos that's spreading from their influence."

Contrary to what he had said, The Forefathers did indeed have ties to The Bosses. Their influence was actually growing throughout the city.

"Politicians and humanity…" Jen thought out loud. "But why get Kim involved? To have some fun with her?"

"Saying no wouldn't entirely be true, but I wanted to see what her ambitions for this operation really were. For others, or for herself? What about the relationship itself? Did she really care for Ron because she cares for his life, or is it because he fills that secret void of emotional loneliness for her? Who benefits more? Is it really equal, or is that a smoke screen?"

"I've seen enough to know that it's not that, Val. If you asked her a long time ago, _maybe_ it would be something to fill the void, but now, she really does love him. I don't think she can live with… out… him…"

Then it hit her.

"Exactly the point. Right here is a perfect example. Ron's been removed from the picture, but instead of trying to continue the fight and move on, Kim stays here and instantly loses the will to fight, if not live. Love can be a beautiful thing, but it can be just as tragic. Stoppable said it himself: 'One falls, and everyone else must die'. So that's your weakness, Kim: Heartbreak. Get duped by syntho-ex, lose the will to fight. Lose your boyfriend in battle, the same thing…"

"You make it sound like you're not even a factor in this, Val!" Jen cried. "You're the one trying to blow up the world with some nukes, not to mention you 'removed' him as you so put it!"

"Perhaps so, Ferno. Perhaps so," he humbly responded. "I'm only giving Kimberly the chance to choose between two things in her life. It was not something any of her other villains gave her the chance to fight against. Oh, they wanted to, but Kim either figured out the plan long before, or were just incapable of doing so. Ron versus the people, love versus death. It's sad to see the world famous hero succumb to nothing but tears, anger, hatred and sadness. But that will happen if you do whatever you can to stomach those feelings forever, whether it be real life or on duty. Even some of her high school insecurities clung onto her during graduation. Affection… They don't tell you in the papers that such things can destroy you from the inside out. It's the spirit that makes someone a hero, Ferno. And heroes don't get personal with their colleagues or villains. This isn't the Kim Possible I fought in the past. No. She's changed drastically. Other than her weaknesses, she has already tried to do things that she never would have done in her high school days. Oh, she thought she could kill me, bent on shooting me down in the Hind and even digging the barrel of a gun into my forehead. I can only imagine what Ron would think if he were watching."

Jen hadn't seen the whole thing, but she could see that the blood vessels in Kim's eyes weren't the usual light red color. Her eyes weren't only of sadness, but a bitter hatred. Perhaps Val was telling the truth. Unfortunately, she didn't have much to defend Kim. Jen knew well of colleagues being killed in action, she knew the consequences of falling in love in a war zone, and she knew she couldn't lose her cool no matter the situation. But Kim had known a separate life for all her years, never seeing any of her friends or colleagues die at all. It would explain the rumors of a short depression she suffered shortly after Valia's supposed funeral. She even managed to hide that from Ron.

Jen could only feel sorry for her. Compared to everything, Kim was an innocent. She wanted to grow up and accept the more challenging issues, but losing Ron was never a possibility that ever came to mind. Jen grew up finding information on anything that was new, from entertainment to top secret weapons. She knew it all, and while she easily forgot half of it, she didn't forget the importance of everything she found. Life wasn't pretty, and when you find the truth, you usually regret ever searching for it. You're better off telling people that you had spent your life seeking out the truth, only to find out such a thing doesn't exist. Spread the word.

But Jen knew full well who Valve Dive was. She had heard things about Valve Dive and Sapphire Cypher. But the story was quite the same. After Enya's death, Val did want to give up and leave everything behind, trying to erase his memory to become a teenager. However, he grew to hate the world more because of his fellow peers, always looking for the next best challenge. Later down the road, long after he graduated from Upperton High School, his next interest would come to him as two teen heroes, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. He went so far to play them like puppets that it cost him his left hand. Eventually he was defeated and got a huge portion of his memory back, and once he realized his original enemies had grown to an indomitable power, he chose to continue the fight.

But Jen didn't know this was the same Dive, since many people acquired codenames with that word in it. Kim and Ron didn't know that half of the Ice Shadows were indeed those with the 'Dive' rank. If Valia had revealed himself to be _Valve_ Dive, it would have been too obvious.

Jen's thoughts were interrupted as she felt a hand on her shoulder, one with painted fingernails.

"Kim?"

She sniffed. "You're both right… this isn't what Ron would've wanted. But honestly… I don't know what he would've wanted. Would he have wanted to move on in life? Would he have wanted me to find love? Fight alone? Quit and live for myself?"

It was clear her mind was still far from stable.

Val sighed. "It appears you still have more to discover about each other. At least he didn't already pop the question."

"Pop the question?" Jen asked with curved eyes. "You're kidding."

Val took the round box out of his pocket again. "I only took a small peek myself, but I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for dear Kimberly here."

"So why keep it?"

"It would be a shame to put such a thing to waste, and to hold it for the time being. With his fall, Ron would have only lost it."

Kim was about to get into another fighting stance as he put it away, but Jen stopped her as she intentionally blocked her path with her arm.

"Jen? What are you doing?"

"Don't you see, Kim? This is _exactly_ the point he's making. The way you're feeling right now, you don't stand a chance against him. You can't fight purely out of anger or sorrow and expect to win in a hand-to-hand duel. You can hardly think straight, and you'll only lose the fight. I might not be the smartest girl out there, but even I know this."

Val seemed impressed. "Well put, blondie."

"I do what I can," she coldly remarked.

"So you're not up to the challenge of taking me on?"

Jen got into a stance. "Well, I usually don't fight people in hand-to-hand combat unless absolutely necessary, since most people fight me with weapons. I suppose it's better than doing nothing."

"Well, show me what you've got…"

Kim didn't even bother watching the fight, staring at the window with a hole shaped like a human body.

Ron…

He really was gone…


	23. 22: Catharsis

**Chapter 22: Catharsis**

**

* * *

**

Tasting rain in a storm like this couldn't have been heaven at all. Not if everything was dark, cold, and wet.

If you were dead, why would you sneeze?

And why did you feel like something was carrying you?

Maybe you weren't dead at all.

But if everything echoed, maybe you were.

If you opened your eyes to see a huge city thousands of feet below and weren't falling, then that's something else.

Ron could feel a lot of pain in various areas, and whether or not he was dead, he was still afraid of heights. A wild scream filled the air.

"Ah, you have awakened!"

It was a female voice… with an accent. She had her chain in one hand, carrying him with her available arm.

"Yori?"

"Save your breath, Stoppable-san. We still have to stop him…"

Ron was confused. Okay, he figured out that Yori saved him from falling to his death. He should've been used to his hide being saved so many times, but he couldn't help but feel awkward about something.

He almost let out another scream when he noticed a surveillance camera with a gun looking right at him.

However, it did not fire. It didn't seem to be active at all. Upon realizing this fact, Ron practically cheered.

"Way to disarm those guns, Yori!"

He couldn't make eye contact with her, but he was able to see her shake her head.

"This was not my doing."

Weird.

Seeing Yori again instantly reminded him of the incident at Nev's lab. Even though he didn't blame Kim anymore, he still felt bad for his friend in some way.

"Hey, um, Yori… sorry about earlier, but-"

"We can worry about that later. We still have a job to do. Do you think you can climb? You are not exactly 'lightweight."

"Um, I can try," he said as he let out another sneeze. _'Geez, what's up with her and her snappy tone?'_ he thought.

If he had known better, he would realize her tone was one of grief, anger and shame. She carefully let go of him and allowed him to get a grip on the chain. Holding on lightly was the last thing that came to his mind. But he still had the strength in him, somehow, to follow her, even though he had just regained consciousness a minute or two ago. The rain was just as fierce as ever, and he could see the smoke and fires from the Hind from where he was at (the 67th floor). He didn't worry much. Kim could handle Val alone.

Right?

"I apologize for my mood," Yori shouted through the thunder, "but I feel dishonored that I left the team for my own feelings. I promised that I would aid you in this mission, and I intend to keep it until the very end, Stoppable-san."

Ron was surprised. He never heard her talk like this.

"Throughout this journey, I have been a weak little girl who could not remain calm and cool over the relationship of someone else. I am tired of being that person. No longer am I going to stand and watch, to think that my own wishes and desires are more important than the threat of global destruction… I am going to fight."

Ron couldn't really respond to this. An outside view would be able to see Yori's faults, but he wasn't able to see it at all.

"Stoppable-san… Kim is still in grave danger. She cannot fight Ryan-kun alone."

Ron almost paused. Why did she know his name?

"You… knew…? You _knew_ he was behind all of this?"

Yori shook her head. "I only found out shortly before you all infiltrated the building. I was going to warn you, but he used a sleep needle on me."

Ron instantly felt more guilt from this. "Oh… sorry about that."

Yori didn't respond, continuing the climb. Even though he should've felt that Val was the only danger, he still couldn't shake the bizarre hunch he was having. Maybe it was the fact that none of the gun cameras were active at all, but it was more of the ninja girl's presence.

"Something else bothers me about this mission, Stoppable-san…"

This quickly distracted him from his concentration. "Um, what?"

"I witnessed the explosion from below, the fight with the helicopter…"

"Yeah… KP shot it down… I didn't get to see any of it."

"Oh. Well, regardless, it caught the attention of the townspeople and sent them into instant fear, but…"

"But?"

"But there was not a single police vehicle or anything else in sight. No ambulance, no police, no SWAT, no firefighters, nothing."

"Really? You're sure?"

"I am certain," she responded truthfully.

"Weird. Usually SWAT guys and GJ would instantly be on the job. I mean, this city is huge, and they cover that kinda stuff first. Wouldn't those guys be here immediately?"

"That is what I thought. There is something else at work here, Stoppable-san."

"I'll be careful. You should too."

His eyes were glued onto the flames at the top of the building. He only hoped that Kim was all right. If Yori was right, he hoped Kim could hang on longer.

Able to hear his thoughts like words, it didn't surprise Yori at all, but she fought to keep a firm face.

"Um, Yori?"

She quickly got nervous. "Yes, Stoppable-san?"

'_No… He couldn't have just read my mind! There's no worse thing than two mind-readers in one place!'_ she thought frantically.

"Can't we just break a window and head to the top from there?"

A thunderclap shielded her loud sigh of relief.

"I am afraid the entire place has been filled with poison gas."

This was starting to break Ron's weirdar scale. It would have been a good way to keep police out, but they weren't even there…

There was more to this than Val and his ambitions…

Ugh, but the taste of rain…

* * *

… It was far from the best, especially mixed in with marble and rocks. Whether you were blonde didn't make a difference. 

"Well… I tried."

Jen was apparently tasting the ground after being beaten down by Val. The fight was a short one, due to the fact that Val copied every single one of Jen's moves and styles and used them against her. He was no less graceful in the fight than she was, but she was too quick on the offensive, and not as skilled in the defense department.

Val walked up to the girl and lent out his hand. "Your offense is brilliant, but your defense really needs work."

Jen coughed as she was able to get onto her knees, rejecting the offer. "I guess CQC… doesn't do much against a swift opponent…"

The girl was quite stumped. Usually if she could grapple someone and slam them into the ground, it was more than enough to render them unconscious. But Val also knew of CQC, and used it deliberately against her.

Val slowly backed away. "Well, I have no interest in you, so I'll spare you. You can just sit and watch the rest of the show."

"Rest…?"

"I'm not done with everyone just yet. The night is still alive, ladies!"

But instead of getting into a fighting stance or pulling out a weapon, at least what both Kim and Jen suspected, a small device opened up on his left arm.

A watch.

Suddenly, a small projectile broke into the room through the windows. Kim and Jen used their arms to shield their eyes, while Val just shut his eyes tightly. The sound of glass breaking could be heard, but when the smoke cleared, the two girls gasped.

Yori finally entered the arena, and she didn't come alone. Whoever it was slumped into their knees in exhaustion.

"Ron?"

Kim had to rub her eyes, but once they opened, they were full of life again. Her skin tone was also coming back to normal.

It was him.

"RON!"

Val was knocked off his feet as Kim lunged herself at her shaken BF, rubbing her cheeks against his with a peaceful look in her closed eyes. Jen couldn't help but smile at the sight. Everyone expected for her to plant a huge kiss on his face, but for some reason, he was hesitant, moving his head away in an opposite direction every time Kim tried to get her nose close to his.

"Ron? What's wrong?"

"Sorry, KP. I…"

He gently pushed Kim off.

"Ron?"

Everyone almost took this as a hurtful gesture, until he turned away and sneezed loudly.

"Sorry about that, KP…" he sniffed. "I caught a cold."

Instantly, he turned around and greeted her with open arms, and she quickly tackled him.

"You're okay! I thought…"

She couldn't complete her sentence, bursting into tears again. Much to Ron's satisfaction, they were warm tears as opposed to cold rain. Ron hadn't had Kim hug him like this for a long time, at least to the best of his memory, which everyone knew wasn't too huge these days.

"I thought I lost you…"

Ron lightly chuckled as he picked her up. "You thought that? KP, we're inseparable, you know that."

"Yeah… but… never mind."

Yori watched the two quietly, but not with the same feelings she usually witnessed the two with. She was like Val at first, having her doubts about the two, but seeing Kim like this… It wasn't unbearable, but it wasn't something she had seen before, not in this light. Before, she quickly became jealous, but she didn't feel this way this time.

No, she felt happy for Kim. A smile even made a way to her face.

The moment was destroyed when coughing came from the other male in the room.

Val was spitting out rain and rubbing his head. Apparently, when Kim knocked him out of the way, he landed right on his head and fell on his face. Everyone's eyes turned to him instantly, but his eyes were not on them. They were still on the watch built into his left arm. Ron slowly put Kim down so both would be ready for anything.

"Right on time, Yori-chan. Glad to see the delivery was made."

Everyone's eyes turned on the ninja girl as her eyes instantly went from happiness to pure hatred.

"This was not part of the deal, Ryan-kun!"

Everyone but Ryan blinked.

Val shook his head. "Deal? What ever are you talking about, Yori-chan?"

Ron slowly clutched onto Kim's shoulders. "Yori… what's going on?"

She sulked in anger. "I am sorry… I have dishonored you all. I remember now… It was not coincidence that I was involved in this operation. I… I…"

Everyone watched the girl confess.

"I willingly participated from the very beginning… I am sorry."

Val rolled his eyes. "Told you so."

This was quick to take Kim and Ron by surprise, but Jen was probably the most shocked. "You… defected?"

"Please, you must understand! I…" Yori sighed. "No… there is no excuse for what I did…"

"But how? Why?" Kim asked. "Or was what you said about your mind being erased a lie, too?"

Before Yori could answer, Val stepped in front of her.

"Believe me, it's not what you think. Perhaps you should tell them, or should I?" he asked his former classmate.

She didn't answer, closing her eyes to avoid eye contact with anyone.

"Well…" Val begun. "A month and a half after Sensei's rejection, I was back in Japan and still recovering from my injuries. By then, Sensei had already told Yori that he killed me, to prevent her from trying to pursue me if he told her the truth. However, since he was like a father to her, she knew him well enough to see through his lies. Even a man of his wisdom knows that he must lie to protect others, unlike the rest of human population. But her search did not go successfully. I kept within close range at Mt. Fuji, and just when she was about to give up, I blundered and fell into a well. Embarrassing, but she heard it. I managed to get out on my own, but she almost screamed when she noticed all of my injuries. I had grown more disgusting in appearance over the last ten years, and she grew more beautiful. Curious as to what caused those injuries, she went through my mind."

"Went through your mind?" Ron asked.

"She's a clairvoyant and a mind reader."

"What?" Both Kim and Ron asked.

Yori opened her eyes again and made contact with Val.

"Relax, I won't tell them of your past. Anyway, what she found was you two being put in danger, and she immediately challenged me to a fight. She couldn't forgive me for what I had done, but she didn't look deeply into my mind until after the fight was over."

"I lost…" Yori confessed.

"Only then she saw that I was not my true self, and she also saw my real past. Instead of finishing her off or allowing herself to, since it's a custom to finish off your opponent, I only asked for her help."

"And you went along with it?" Ron scolded.

"I do not think you understand, Stoppable-san. I did not wish to do this to put you in danger!"

"Then why did you do it?"

Yori only sulked further, allowing Val to continue.

"I told her that I needed to do something important, and through my mind she saw the truth. However, for it to be executed, I told her that involved two people; her crush, and his partner."

"You manipulated me…" Yori growled.

"Manipulated you?" Val roared hysterically. "Woman, you manipulated YOURSELF!"

Everyone froze as Val's eyes instantly grew angry.

"Yori, I told you that I was interested _only_ in Possible. I only told you to _use_ Ron to grab her attention. Once she was where I wanted her, right here, your job was done, and Ron was no longer needed. There was no deal involved."

Jen's eyes narrowed. "Yori, you assented to that?"

"Yes… I thought it was my chance to see Stoppable-san again and… I thought I could move far away with only him…"

Everyone groaned.

"But please believe me when I say this, I did not know of his relationship with Possible-san!"

Her eyes met Val's.

"Why did you not tell me of this?"

"You never asked! But of course, _she_ didn't matter at all," referring to Kim. "You didn't care if she fell in battle, even if Ron suffered, as long as your love would make up for it. It's not how life or love works, Yori! You honestly did not think that they were together? Who are you trying to fool?"

"You're wrong! I had no knowledge of their relationship together!"

"Yori, you read through my mind!" Val snapped. "Surely you knew there was a reason I fought them! It was because of the very fact that THEY WERE TOGETHER!"

Yori sighed. "I… I refused to believe it then…"

Val shook his head with pity. "And when you found out, you could not bear it. Your hopes and dreams with the boy you crushed on were instantly destroyed. But you chose to fight it anyway."

"No, it was because I truly did not know what happened prior to the assassination attempt. I wanted to find out who was behind this just as much as they did! Only of my encounter with you did everything become crystal clear!"

"You _did_ agree to the brainwashing."

"I did not!"

"Liar! You were willing to do what was necessary to see Stoppable again, even if you couldn't remember why you were there in the first place. As long as he was there, that was all that mattered. I honestly thought everyone in the world knew of the relationship, but I forget that you isolate yourself to rural Japan."

"…Why didn't Sensei tell me?"

She also was not aware that Ron returned to the school after the fight, but she knew in some way that Sensei knew about it.

"Because you wouldn't believe him, and you would see it for yourself, only to wind up in this exact situation?"

Yori slammed her fist into the nearby wall. "So you asked for my help so I could see this for myself?"

"You were bound to find out some way. Would you prefer it if you found out they were engaged? Or perhaps when Kim was expecting their first child? I figured you should find out now. Sorry you weren't ready for it."

One word instantly outraged her. "Sorry? _Sorry?_ You call toying with my own emotions 'sorry'?"

Val was quick to talk back. "Hey, it's not _my_ fault you didn't take it well."

"You didn't even make mention that you were to put him in any harm!"

"How else was I going to capture Kim's attention? Put a hit on her website and tell her to fight? _I_ don't need a reason to fight, but _she_ does."

"You almost killed him!"

"Says you! Did you honestly think it was coincidence that I knocked you out on a building so close to this one?"

The room went silent.

"W… What are you saying?" Yori asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I planned just about everything on this operation, including sending Ron to fall to his death, sending Kim in a traumatizing mental bind, only for him to be saved by you! Yes, I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO SAVE HIM! I PLANNED IT! IT… WAS ALL… PLANNED!"

Both Kim and Yori froze at these words.

Kim was the first to speak. "You… you are the sickest person I've met! Everything I just went through right now was just another part of your plan?"

Val only snorted. "I only removed him from the picture so I could fight you alone. But I should have known that this was going to be like Prom night all over again, but this time you weren't tied up to a giant cactus. I forgot that you're not the type to avenge anyone, especially when you see witness it for yourself and couldn't do anything about it."

"So what I went through…"

"A miscalculation on my part. But if you actually understood the words coming out of my mouth, I never said I 'killed' him. We could have had time to fight alone, but Yori got up here quicker than I thought."

This only got Kim angrier.

"Hey, look on the bright side, K. He's alive and quite well, minus the cold. You'd be wise to keep your distance, unless you want to get sick yourself. And unfortunately, they never did get around to fixing Ray X…"

Mention of this made Ron sneeze, but not before turning away from Kim and covering his nose with his arm.

"Bless you," everyone spoke, even Val.

"Thanks. But… you only sent me out of a window because you knew Yori was going to save me?"

"I don't kill for sport, Ron. What, did you think I _wanted_ you to die?"

Ron blinked. "Um, if I recall correctly, it was you that said this was going to be a fight to the death."

Val clapped his hands together. "Ooooh, right, right. I did say that…." He humbly replied. "Speaking of which…"

A series of beeps went off in his left arm.

"Time's up."

An hour had passed.

Everyone's eyes widened. The beeping shortly stopped afterwards, and everyone embraced themselves for the worst. Of course, to no surprise, Kim and Ron held on tightly to each other, even if they both couldn't breathe from the grip.

Five seconds passed.

Then ten.

Nothing happened.

"The joke's on you." Val laughed. "Just another way to motivate you to fight."

Kim's jaw dropped. "Unbelievable… so the nuclear threat was fake all along?"

"Nope. Still there."

Kim growled. "Then how do we stop it?"

"By stopping me."

"Fine."

Kim released her grip on Ron and got into a stance, prepared to finish this.

However, Yori stood in front of Val, as if shielding him.

"I cannot let you."

Everyone blinked in unison. "What?"

"I know what I did was not right… but I do not intend to run away as I did before…. I played a role in starting this, and I plan to end it!"

Yori slowly turned around and faced the cyborg ninja. "I will make up for my errors… by finishing you off myself… my old classmate…" She then turned around to the others. "Please, do not interfere!"

Everyone had a hard time believing her, but they could tell that this was a personal bout between Yori and Val. They chose to respect her wishes.

Pleased was the last thing Val felt. "So, even though you are entirely at fault for your own involvement, you think by putting me out of commission will change anything? Taking responsibility is the right thing to do, but this is not the right way of doing it… Like you said, you joined by your own free will. I didn't force you to do anything, you know."

"You sent me to kill Stoppable-san!"

"Knowing full well he wouldn't be so easily killed. Same goes with the poison syringe. I just programmed you to do attempt such actions to let them know not to take any of what was going on lightly. It worked. You knew full well in advance that I was going to erase portions of your mind as not to blow my cover. I don't know where the hell you got the idea that this was a deal, that you would deliver Kim and you could have Ron. I just asked you to help bring Kim up here. But she found her way alone even without you."

"Did you plan that as well?" Yori snarled.

"Not entirely, but I figured with enough clues, she'd know where to go. She didn't quite understand the riddle behind the message about 'The Tower', but after delivering the hit, she put the two together, and was well on her way."

"Well… I cannot let any of this continue."

"Just try to stop me, old friend."

Instead of taking him on directly, Yori observed her surroundings, and noticed the portion of the ceiling above him was still fragile. If she could properly utilize it, it could crush Val instantly, and seeing that she was the only other person in the room that was armed, she threw an explosive straight above Val's head.

"You missed…" he taunted.

"Did I?"

Before Val could move his head up, several rocks of debris were sent crashing down on him, filling the immediate area with smoke. But when the smoke cleared, Val was sitting on top of the rubble, one arm resting on one leg and his mech-hand on his knee. He appeared to be extremely relaxed.

"You did, but thanks for the seat. I could take a load off right about now. Oh, if only there were some refreshments around…"

Yori looked surprised. "How…?"

"Many things. Reading your eyes being one. If you look at the ceiling and have a mischievous smile on your face, the words 'Labor Day' aren't going to come to mind. Second, there's the duration between releasing the object and when it hits its intended target. Why not let out a battle cry before you throw the bomb while you're at it?"

As Yori grunted and took a step back, Val performed a series of front flips and landed in front of her, next to his trenchcoat. He picked it up and put it back on. Even the weather was starting to get to him, and he wasn't in the mood to catch Ron's cold.

However, he instantly got into the same stance Yori got into, and both didn't even bother bowing before each other. Yori was not only going to make him pay for putting them all through so much danger, but for playing with her own emotions like a tool. However, unlike Kim and Ron, Val had another motive for fighting Yori. It wasn't simply for the thrill of battle.

"Ryan-kun… prepare yourself!"

She took the time to perform a series of kicks with what everyone thought was her dislocated leg. It was fine now.

Val chuckled. "Heh… totally forgot about that leg of yours, but I'm way ahead of you, sister. Try not to manipulate yourself further in this duel."

Apparently, something in Yori's defense drove him upset; her ignorance and denial toward the issue. He didn't like people with constant excuses, even if they were friends before.

Some lessons had to come hard. Kim and Ron knew this all too well.

Both quickly engaged in a fierce and loud battle. Usually, letting out grunts and cries would be a clear indicator of an incoming move, but the two didn't care. Val let himself go, clearly confident that Yori was no match for him, and Yori was trapped in her own anger to fight as she had trained for years. What surprised everyone was that both weren't fighting in the traditional Ninjitsu style at all. Both were completely on the offensive. Again, Val copied her moves to the core, but since neither were being evasive, he had the advantage. Val's fists and feet were much bigger and powerful than Yori's, and he wasn't going to allow her any breathing room. He quickly lost himself in fighting entirely in offense, forcing Yori to be defensive in blocking out his fists. Often, he would break it and hit her hard, but she refused to give up.

Strategies changed as Yori chose to make the fight into an airborne one. With what was still left of the ceiling and walls, she leapt onto the wall on her side, and Val followed suit. It became like a duel between lancers. They would strike both at once, and one would fall at the end. At least, that's what she intended. When they both attacked, they found themselves attacking each other in mid-air through several combos. Neither of them was weakened, going at it over and over again.

It was also clear that the three observers had a bad feeling about this fight. Not only was Val being completely on the offensive, but he was also limiting his style to Yori's. He was up to something, but they wouldn't interfere.

Then it looked like it was falling into play. Val decided to run up the walls as opposed to jumping onto them to initiate the attack, and Yori did the same. The fight continued to ensue, but it wasn't long before another change was in effect. As Yori went to run up her side of the wall, she found Val right behind her. In an effort to escape, she leapt off the corner of the wall toward the floor, but she couldn't even reach it before Val wrapped his arm around her neck in mid-air and sent her crashing to the floor below head-first.

Everyone winced before she even hit the ground.

Val was still ready to go, but it took a while before Yori could get onto her feet. Even when she did, she couldn't keep her balance.

"Yori, just give up…"

"I will not!" she cried weakly.

Val just shrugged. If she wasn't going to give up, it was best to end it here. He went on the offensive, but he found himself surprised as Yori was able to defend herself pretty well. Punches and kicks would be pushed aside, and she would come back with a fierce offensive.

She was using his own strategy against him.

But it wouldn't last. Val found himself being punched and kicked repeatedly like a plaything, but he still had one trick up his sleeves. Just when Yori appeared she was going to unleash a final move by moving back, as if preparing a charge, he quickly went on the offensive, but he didn't fight back solely in Ninjitsu. He changed his style completely, confusing Yori with a mix of several styles she was not familiar with. She tried as hard as she could to defend herself or attack an opening, but it was too much, and she was quickly bombarded with a final assault.

Val finished the match with a fierce roundhouse kick in Yori's jaw that sent her straight into the air, sending her crashing into the ceiling. She quickly fell back onto the floor faster than her ascendance. A cry of pain from Yori was more than enough to determine the winner.

But she wasn't completely unconscious. She was still struggling to get onto her feet, but kept collapsing when she tried to support herself with an elbow. Val slowly walked toward her, cracking his knuckles.

"Foolish woman… This is where your ignorance and idiocy leaves you!"

It appeared he was going to finish her off in a KO, but not before someone stood in-between them.

"That's enough!"

It was Ron.

Val laughed. "How sweet, protecting the woman that _isn't _your girlfriend?"

Lightning ignited between their eyes.

"Listen, she might not be my girlfriend, but she's still my friend!"

Yori coughed. "Stoppable-san… why?"

Ron wouldn't answer her.

Val crossed his arms. "Giving her a second chance? That really is noble of you. I suppose her defection didn't have an effect on you."

Ron disagreed. "Even if you think she was dumb to fall for me, a crush is a crush, and let's face it; everyone does something stupid when they crush on someone! Even if it's not a crush and it's love, we _still_ do stupid things for the ones we love!"

"Tell me something I don't know," Val retorted. "She dishonored herself and I made her pay for it. Had she known better, she would have never gotten involved. Love doesn't mean you isolate your love from those he cares about, and that's what Yori believed in. She never concerned herself with Kim, your friends or family. Ashamed at such thoughts and willingness to go through with it, she's praying for death, and I chose to give her a taste of it! But look at her. She doesn't fear it at all. And that's what's going to keep her alive in the long run…"

Ron shook his head all over the place. "I don't care why you fight! I'm not going to let you lay another finger on her! She said it herself, it was a mistake. She has regrets! Let her learn from them!"

Val chuckled, calming down. "You know, you're actually right."

However, someone else didn't agree. A hand on Ron's shoulder.

"Stoppable-san… I asked for you not to interfere…"

He instantly turned around her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Yori! You're going to get hurt!"

"Am I not already?" she weakly asked.

As much as she hated to, she pushed him aside and went right after Val again.

Without looking, he simply lunged his knuckles straight at her forehead.

She was out like a rock.

"You can't say I didn't warn her."

Ron went to check Yori's pulse, and she appeared fine. She didn't suffer any serious injuries, but she wasn't going to feel good in the morning.

Val simply patted his hands repeatedly with his eyes closed. He looked like he was trying to hide his face in the shadows.

"A woman joins me, then chooses to fight against me due only to her own self-manipulation… Some things don't change…" he growled.

Something in him instantly changed.

Kim knew why. "So you really thought she was going to help you out to the very end? Now she betrayed you as well."

Val kept his eyes shut. "Even if I explained it in detail, you wouldn't understand."

"Try me," Kim challenged.

"And let you pretend that you know everything again? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Kim's eyes lit up. "I knew it. You're hiding something!"

Jen slightly nudged Kim. "Um, Kim, don't we know that already? You know, ambitions, nukes and all?"

"That's not what I'm referring to."

Val interrupted. "Allow me to put it this way, Kim: You're not going to find out everything even if you do take me down. So don't bother with the questions."

He simply decided to turn around, only to find Ron in a fighting stance and armed with his sword. Val took out his own.

"Ron, hand-to-hand is one thing I'm good at, but there's no one better around this city than I am with swords. If you challenge me to a fight, you're as good as dead."

Ron appeared quite defiant in his stance. "I don't let people hurt my friends, dude. I don't care what the reason is."

"Friends, huh? And is that why you have so many? Oh, that's right, you've only got so few at home. Most of your life Kim has been your only friend, with a few friendships that came and went faster than a serious relationship with Paris Hilton. Not buying it, Stoppable."

Ron wasn't listening. He didn't care how many friends he had. Like he told Kim, it was all about quality, not quantity.

"_It's_ back in me…" Ron hissed.

What was back in him?

"Oh, the mystical monkey power? Perhaps this should prove interesting…" Val spoke with curiosity.

Ron took the moment to show off his abilities with the weapon, spinning it faster than the blades on the Hind, switching it between hands as it moved in front and behind him. He finished it off with a lunge strike like a musketeer stance. The whole time he was letting out various battle cries. When it was all over, he appeared to be a formidable opponent.

But everyone simply watched as Val carelessly swung his blade, knocking Ron's into the other side of the floor. Both Kim and Jen covered their faces in embarrassment.

"Or not…"

Seeing that he was completely unarmed, Ron nervously stepped back.

Val approached slowly as he juggled his sword in the air using various techniques. "Like I said, I'm not interested in fights involving weapons, unless I have better things to do."

Ron let out another cry, a clear indicator that he was about to attack.

"I'm not going to let you hurt Yori anymore! Or anybody else!"

But before he could attack, Val was already holding him by the throat. Kim and Jen quickly went to interfere, but both were kicked away with one leg.

Val wasn't exactly choking Ron, but he wasn't going to let him struggle out of it, either. "Haven't you learned anything on this journey, Stoppable? You've been so protective of Yori because you pity her, but you haven't taken the same care for your beloved girlfriend. She was willing to die to save your life, while Yori was willing to take you away from everything you cherish just to be with you. And she gets more attention? My, my, my…"

But Ron had a strange look on his face, constantly moving his nose.

"Oh no, I'm not falling for that one. Pretend to sneeze and then attack. Oldest trick in the book."

It wasn't long before Ron sneezed straight into his captor's face. Val instantly went hysterical after he tossed Ron aside.

"Dammit to spine-ripping bloodsucking brimstone hell! Not again!"

Ron even used Val's trenchcoat to wipe his nose when he wasn't looking. He found the girls behind him shortly after.

"Ron, you okay?" Kim asked while rubbing his neck.

"I'm fine, KP. I… oooh, lil' to the left… ah, right there."

With Val trying to wash his face with the rain, she found it an opportune moment to flirt around with Ron. Jen found it awkward that his leg was moving up and down like a puppy.

It wasn't long before Val caught himself and regained his cool after splashing water on his face repeatedly. As he put the sword away, he pulled out his gas mask and put it on. He refused to catch a cold. When he faced his opponents, they were all ready to fight him. Three-to-one.

"Three-on-one? Not any more fair than before, but I suppose this could prove interesting…"

But before any of them could prepare themselves, they all heard a loud humming noise. Val also took notice, unfamiliar with it. It sounded like several rotors…

"Val, you didn't call for backup, did you?" Kim asked.

"Backup?" he asked incredulously. "Why would I need backup?"

It sounded like an airborne vehicle.

"…and that was the only Hind within 200 miles…" he thought out loud.

They all chose to shrug it off, but not even five seconds passed until the floor started to vibrate. Everyone kneeled to avoid being knocked off their feet.

"Val! What's going on?" Kim demanded.

"Beats me!" Val answered.

Then it stopped. They all waited about fifteen seconds to see if anything else happened, but nothing did.

"Well, I don't know what that was about… but it sure got my blood going…" Val chuckled.

Again, he chose not to take a battle stance as the others did. Now they were all ready go at it again.

"Round 2…" Ron whispered. "KP, think of anything yet?"

"Sorry babe, but no."

"Jen?"

"He knows all our techniques. I have _no_ idea."

Kim figured out one thing, though. "Maybe he's right when he said to maintain our composure when fighting…"

"Why would he tell us something like that?" Jen skeptically asked.

"I don't know, but Ron's the only one who fought with it, and he gave Val a harder time than I did…"

"Sounds to me like he's been waiting for someone to defeat him…" Jen thought.

"Well, whatever he wants, that's not important. I'm still worried about those nukes."

Both blondes looked at Kim.

"I'm serious. I can't fight just out of my own anger for Ron anymore. I save the world, and I'm going to do fight for that reason alone… no offense, Ron."

"None taken."

"Are you all finished?"

Their eyes met their enemy's.

Kim narrowed her eyes as Val did. "Come on, you two, let's get this over with."

Both teams began to charge at each other in full force.

But Val noticed something was starting to divide the path between them.

Bullets. They weren't bullets from an ordinary gun, either. These were huge and long, probably shot from a Vulcan cannon.

The others didn't seem to notice.

As they were about to make contact, Val leapt in the air and pressed his foot against Kim's abdomen, pushing her back into the other two. They all landed on their feet.

Since their footsteps were no longer filtering out any other noise, they could hear the bullets come to a stop. Not only that, but they could hear some kind of machine from below. Instantly, the massive machine rose up from below, lighting the floor with blinding spotlights.

"_DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVE!"_

Once the lights dimmed down, everyone witnessed the mechanical behemoth to the side.

Val slapped his forehead. "So that's where it went…!"

The others weren't familiar with the flying death machine in the air, but then it hit Kim.

"Is that…?

"Yep…" Val answered. "The last of the Judgments… The Harpuia."

When the blinding mist dwindled away, she could see that it had the exact same appearance as the Fafnir, only without legs.

"But… who's flying it?"

Kim couldn't believe she was talking to someone in a gas mask. But then, the pilot yelled from the loudspeaker.

"_Dive! You're dead!"_

Val instantly recognized the voice.

"Ah, Freddy boy! You survived the fall."

Kim's eyes widened. "What? Elurt? How…?"

Val kept his eyes glued to the hovering death tank. "Had you not covered your eyes when I fired the missile at him, you would have seen that he dropped the stealth camo and dove off the building. I suppose those gun cameras didn't do their job on him. That reminds me, I forgot to mention that the first detonator you saw was programmed to disable every single one of them. Another precaution for Ron's temporary departure."

So the nukes didn't have a detonator? Val was staging this like a puppet show. Kim didn't know what to make of it, but she felt instantly uncomfortable when she noticed the eyes behind the orange visors were warm.

"Are you expecting a 'thanks'?" she hissed.

"No, but I will say 'You're welcome'."

She wasn't able to make any sense of him at all.

Val decided to take off his mask and reveal himself to the pompous pilot.

"Remember me?"

"_VALVE? What… how… You're alive!"_

"It may have been three years, but did you honestly think I was going to forget?" Val shouted.

"_The death of your girlfriend? You pathetic fool! That disrespectful valkyrie deserved what was coming to her!"_

"You only feared her just like everyone else did… But her legacy lives on through me!"

"_You cannot stop us! No matter how many people you kill, you can never stop us!"_

"We'll see about that, won't we?"

"_Do not try to escape the inevitable, Valve! I'll kill all of you today! And Fayce…"_

Val noticed he was close to Ron's blade.

"_I'll send you to hell to reunite you with her! Time to say goodbye!"_

With that, Elurt instantly fired all of the sixteen machine guns wildly.

The girls and Ron dove for cover, but Val pulled out two weapons. His blade and Ron's.

Everyone witnessed as Val used both weapons to deflect anything that came his way. It wasn't long before Elurt overheated all of the guns. Val for the most part was unscathed, suffering only a few burns on his skin from bullets. The ones he wasn't able to deflect only flew past the hairs on his skin. None of them penetrated his body.

"HAH! Is that all you've got?" the sword swinger taunted without showing any kind of pain.

Elurt only growled. Everyone wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but Val seemed to have an idea, turning his face to Kim's.

"Hey, Kim! You coming?"

By the look in his eyes, he was ready to take on the flying behemoth all by himself.

Kim had a question of her own. "You're actually going to take that thing on?"

She couldn't believe what she was going to hear next.

"No big. I can do _anything!"_ he shouted.

Even Ron's face dropped.

"Hey, that's my line!" Kim cried.

"But it suits _me_ so much better…!" Val smirked.

Kim only grunted. "So how do we stop him?"

Val turned his eyes back onto the floating machine. "You provide the distraction. The machine is useless without a pilot, so I'll take care of him."

"_I'm_ the distraction?"

"I know of the machine's weakness. Handle the pilot first."

"We already tried that last time, but we couldn't destroy the cockpit window."

"You didn't try to _remove_ it using a bladed weapon as a crowbar. It's a design flaw."

Kim couldn't believe her ears. "You're kidding."

"Hardly. Should an emergency arise, the cockpit door loosens itself so the pilot can escape safely. After all, since all of them are not meant to be scaled by foot once active, the designers did not think people would be able to jump onto it. I'll need a secondary distraction… Stoppable!"

Val turned towards the other guy in the room.

"Grab some of Yori's smoke bombs. I won't be able to leap onto the machine or send Kim there unless the old man is blinded."

Ron did so without saying a word. He quickly grew uncomfortable being commanded by Val to take Yori's weapons. Especially considering the fact that Val was the one who knocked her out. Once he was equipped with them, he tossed them to Val without saying anything, who caught them with ease. There was clearly no sign of respect on Ron's face.

"Thanks. Now then…"

Val quickly turned toward the aircraft.

"_Do you think you can honestly reach me at this level?"_

"Did you already forget what I was capable of?" Val hollered with intentional arrogance.

By the noises on the loudspeaker, the guns resumed normal status. They were ready to fire again.

"_DIE!"_

However, instead of firing the turret guns, Elurt launched a series of missiles. Everyone braced themselves, but the missiles only struck whatever was left of the walls and ceiling of the floor. Other than the Hind and Kim's equipment, the arena was nothing but flat terrain. It would be a while before Elurt could see his prey from the smoke. This gave the heroes (and ex-hero) their chance. Val tossed the smoke bombs straight into the cockpit, and the irritated yell of Elurt assured him he hit the mark. Now he couldn't see anything in front of him at all. Without warning, Val grabbed Kim by the wrists and swung her in circles, slowly building up speed. When he released her, she flew at least 40 feet into the air and landed on top of the Harpuia. However, the rain did not make it for easy terrain. Kim couldn't maintain her balance no matter how hard she tried. Even grabbing onto areas where she could fit her hands in proved useless.

"Damn… at this rate she'll fall right off. Stoppable, you're up!"

Unlike Kim, Val grabbed Ron by one wrist and pulled it forward, appearing as if he were to slam Ron on his back, but instead, shoved his foot hard into his abdomen, sending Ron onto the machine. He didn't even volunteer to help his enemy. However, like Kim, he also found himself slipping on the wet metal of the machine.

All they needed to do was grab Elurt's attention on them, but they were more focused on maintaining their ground. It didn't help that Elurt could barely handle the machine, always moving from side to side.

"Ferno?"

Unlike Kim and Ron, she was ready to go. "Beam me up."

But instead of throwing Jen, he picked her up and ran to the edge of the building as fast as he could. Just before he was about to step onto the air, he leapt right off and landed perfectly on the cockpit window. Everyone but Yori was aboard the armored and airborne death mobile.

Right after he released Jen, Val tossed Ron's sword to her.

"Make sure he uses this!"

Jen said nothing, but heard everything he had to say. He only was able to maintain his balance by digging his sword through the thick armor and using it as a cane of some sorts. Often he was hanging by it.

If any of them fall off, they would not land on the Tower.

Val tried whatever he could to dig his sword into the edges of the cockpit. However, the radar on the controls indicated there were multiple targets near the guns, and Elurt immediately fired.

Kim and Ron were on opposite ends of the aircraft, and much closer to the guns than they wished. The instant the first gun fired, they both dove away. They were able to keep their balance for a short time before Elurt shook the machine again. This one knocked Kim straight off her feet and right off the machine.

"Kim!"

Much to Ron's fortune, she managed to grab onto something at the last minute, but she wasn't going to be able to last much longer. On her end, there was nothing to climb on being at the very bottom.

"Ron! Catch!"

Through the mist of the rain, Ron caught a glimpse of the other blonde running toward him. Before Jen could toss the sword, though, she quickly slipped on the rain, but landed in one of two flat areas. However, the sword was no longer in her hands, flying in a completely different direction.

Luck must've been on Ron's side in this fight. The wind redirected the sword right into his hands. His thoughts back on Kim, he needed to do something to roughen up the surface of the round armor. He had no idea where he got the idea, but he let out a battle cry and slammed the sword straight into the armor.

To everyone's surprise, the sword unleashed an electrical energy blast that did just as he wanted. It wasn't enough to destroy the armor, but it was powerful enough to create a rough straight road. He decided to run it before the rain would soak up the path. It also destroyed the guns between him and Kim, among other things…

"Badical!"

As Ron ran past by, Val was still busy trying to push upward on the cockpit window. He took a glance at the sword Ron was carrying.

"The Dragon series…"

* * *

"_The Kitana Dragon series. Created by someone called Koshiro Hitomi, four in existence. Some practitioners of the blade have stated that it's powerful enough to break the floor and anything in its path. Not sure how that's done, but I figure it could be of some use."_

_

* * *

_

Ron sprinted as fast as he could across the machine, hoping Kim could hold on just for a few more seconds.

However, when he leaned over to grab her, she was gone.

"Kim?"

Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"KP! How…"

Kim had a calm look on her face. "Whatever you did, it blew out some wires, so I climbed one of them. Wasn't easy, I'll tell you that."

Ron scratched his head. That was quick. But he got an idea… He figured if he could do this once, he would do it again.

Time to make some scrap metal.

Meanwhile, as Ron slammed the sword repeatedly against the machine, Val finally broke through and forced the cockpit window open, but not before meeting a fist in his face and almost being knocked off. His only leverage was his blade.

Elurt leapt out of the machine and walked slowly toward the edge with a sinister smile on his face. He was the only one able to keep his balance on the metal that spit out his reflection.

"Valve… your life ends here!"

It appeared that Val was struggling to get up, but he kept a cool face.

"Touché! But I wouldn't be so certain just yet!"

"Don't be a fool! Not even you can escape death!"

"On the contrary… I've already died twice!"

"Third time's the charm…"

A heavy vibration from Ron's sword was enough to give Val the momentum to fly back onto the machine, kicking Elurt in the face and sending him sliding. Val was able to keep his blade, but once he put it back, he was instantly tackled by his former comrade.

When Ron was finished, he had destroyed all of the weapons on the surface of the machine. The turret guns surrounding the cockpit were done with, the cannons were no longer functioning, and Elurt had already launched all of the missiles, so there was no need to worry there. Other than where Elurt and Val were fighting, there was no way to slip on the machine now.

Jen on the other hand had leapt straight into the control center, doing whatever she could to keep the machine up and running, since Elurt failed to put it on auto-pilot. While the armor had taken serious damage and the weapons were unusable, it could still fly well on its own. Fortunately for Jen, it controlled much like a fighter jet and a tank, both machines she was familiar with controlling. The first thing she did was slowly hover the machine over the Tower. If anyone fell off, they would land back onto the building. She also lowered it so the fall wouldn't be a long one.

And it was a good thing she did. The first thing that happened was that Val and Elurt knocked each other right off, falling probably twenty feet at the least onto the marble floor. Team Possible decided it was their turn, leaping off and landing with ease. Holding each other, of course.

Once that was over with, they were pretty sure the threat from the Harpuia was over. Jen would land it on the Tower, but she knew because of the damage already done, the weight of the colossal machine would cause further structural damage. Not only would it trap everyone inside the collapsing building, but it would also endanger the people below. Before making her leave, she gave Kim and Ron a hand signal telling them what she was going to do. To ensure the safety of the combatants and the innocent people below, she had to land the machine outside the city. None of the other buildings would be able to maintain it.

They got the message, and the Ferno flew off.

This only left Kim, Ron, Val and Elurt as the only ones in action.

"Kim… you think we should…"

"No Ron. This is their fight. I'd rather have my enemies fight each other than me having to fight both at the same time."

So, Kim and Ron watched as Elurt tried to use his most brutal techniques on Val. Both were a bit shaken from the fall, since they both landed on their backs, but refused to give up. Once Val was able to regain himself, he was able to turn the fight around, quickly breaking Elurt's offense and coming in with his own.

The fight didn't last long, Val being the victor once again. Elurt lay between him and Team Possible.

Much to the surprise of Kim and Ron, he took on a completely different persona when Val was closely walking to him. Val had fire in his eyes, but Elurt was desperately scrambling to get away.

"Please… don't kill me!"

The other teens were able to see that Val pulled out his blade. He also had a sickly look in his eyes.

"Elurt… it is you who shall die tonight…! Just as I had originally planned…"

"No! I beg of you!"

He even managed to grab onto Kim and Ron's legs in an effort to get up, but they quickly shook him off. They also distanced themselves from the scene.

The older man did manage to get onto his feet, but he found his face buried in concrete by Val's foot shortly after.

"You do not deserve the right to live…"

Val kicked Elurt back up before knocking him down again with an axe-shaped kick, now shoving his boot against Elurt's neck, and his sword right next to it.

"The only thing you deserve is death… 'comrade'…"

Kim knew what was about to happen, and interfered.

"Val! No!"

Elurt choked. "Please… mercy… I beg of you… I'll give you anything…"

Val wasn't buying Elurt's words. "What? More money and weapons? Not interested."

"Val! Stop!"

Val growled and turned his attention to Kim, who was now right behind him.

"WHAT?"

"He's begging for mercy! Is this what you've wanted to succumb to?"

She was trying to use his own words against him.

"K, I've already killed many people in my line of work! Don't you see? Elurt's not just some rich pompous ass…"

Elurt coughed. "I… had nothing to do with her…"

Enya.

Kim figured it out. Elurt wasn't just some weapons dealer, he was a colleague of The Bosses. But what did he have to do with Enya?

Val hissed as he kept choking Elurt with his boot. "Don't bullshit me, you old shit! I knew full well that you tipped off those terrorists the day we were captured! I also knew full well what the deal was; you would give them more money and weapons to pull off their Jihad or whatever the hell it's called! In return, you'd get Enya's body as a trophy!"

"No…" Elurt coughed. "I wouldn't…"

"But you did!" Val snarled. "The Bosses told you to do it, and you were hardly hesitant to give into their wishes! Enya's Will included a disk with the documentation, the phone taps, even the instant messaging conversations! You wanted her body as a trophy because you're just some sick ass pedophile! I know your fetish for your young maidens, and I know what you did to all seventeen of your daughters!"

Kim didn't want to hear this one, but listened in anyway.

"You will not join them in heaven… You were the one responsible for Enya's death, I know how many people you were responsible for killing, and that is something God would never forgive, but I will not allow you the grace and glory of his judgment! I WILL KILL YOU HERE AND NOW!"

Elurt only coughed further, and his face was already purple.

Out of nowhere, he was able to breathe again, and Val was trying to maintain his balance.

Kim shoved him off.

"Kim, what the hell are you doing?"

Kim found Val's nose almost on hers. She wasn't going to back away.

"Look Val, maybe this is personal, but I can't let you just kill him right in front of me!"

Val gnarled. "So it's all about you, isn't it, Kim?"

"No! Let justice serve its purpose! Let him live the rest of life throu-"

Kim was interrupted by hysterical laughter.

"Kim, you idiot! Do you have any idea why he's been able to do what he's been doing for so long? He has lifetime protection from The Bosses themselves! No lawyer or jury will go against him, no judge will rule against him, and he'll be released the next day even if he loses!"

"Val, don't assume-"

"I ain't assuming shit, Kim! I've witnessed this first-hand! Don't pretend to know things you know nothing about! If justice in the world wasn't in shambles, then everyone you fight would actually _stay_ in jail!"

Val was roaring through intense rage, but Kim kept herself calm.

"Val… please. Do you want another person's death on your hands?"

Hearing this, Val took a couple of steps back to study Kim's posture. She wasn't afraid of him at all.

"Of course not…" he replied with a much more gentle tone, "But if I don't kill him now, others will die. I'd rather take one more life than let that being kill more and more people…"

"There has to be another way…"

"Kim, you know just as well as I do that our options in life grow more and more less. Sometimes you must do the wrong thing in order to do the right thing. Don't get me wrong, even I know there's never anything right in murder, not ever, but no one has lived a perfect life by always doing the right thing. In the real world, people play dirty to succeed, things like dignity and pride are lost, and even if you keep your moral ground, there's always the interference of other people."

"That's no reason to take matters into your own hands, Val."

"And you don't? Why not leave the bad guys to the proper authorities? Not even you can always rely on them, and often you're the first person to jump into action. What I'm doing here is no different from what you do: save people."

"And you're going to use that excuse to justify every one of your means, Val. You're going to say that you did the wrong thing, no matter how cruel and disgusting it is, to say you were doing the right thing."

"As I said before, I am not rationalizing or justifying anything I'm doing. I'm not a hero anymore."

"Val, you don't need reasons to kill! Even you must know that!"

"Just because someone has a reason to kill doesn't mean it's right. There's a difference. I don't kill innocent people or those who have done little wrong. I only kill the worst of the worst because their existence is a nuisance to the human race. I'm not out to take numbers for fun."

She sighed. "You're no different than those terrorists you hate so much…"

Silence filled the room.

During this moment, Kim had long noted that Val was talking like he wasn't putting the world under a nuclear threat. But she figured out why. Why else would you talk so passionately about life over the destruction of the world when armed with a nuke? Val wasn't all there in his head, but Kim could see that he wasn't somebody who would willingly kill thousands just to prove a point.

Answer: There wasn't a nuclear threat at all. He faked the entire thing, just to get her to come up here. She had to admit though, it worked. He wasn't going to blow up anything if he wanted them to survive through a decisive battle.

However, she couldn't figure out if he had any hidden tricks up his sleeve, so she continued to play along a little longer.

Val hung his head shortly after the last statement, but met with Kim's eyes again.

He snorted. "You understand nothing… Just because we have killed doesn't mean we're anything alike. They kill for sport, for enjoyment, and they use religious influence just for that: Influence to justify their cause. And pathetically, people buy it. I never have killed for sport, I never got enjoyment out of it, and I never used my belief system to keep on doing it. And I sure as hell am not using my freedom of expression or speech to do anything so vile. Whether or not you believe me, what makes you any different, Kim? Hmm? You wanted to kill me earlier tonight, and your rage was no less energetic. Unlike you, I'm not out to kill him simply for my own retribution and to avenge a fallen one. Hell no. I wish to end the pain and suffering he's caused to many others."

"I've learned my lesson," Kim quickly replied.

Val didn't buy it. "Now that you know Ron is still alive. If telling yourself that gives you a sense of security, Kimberly Anne, so be it. But that does not clear up your fights in the past. At least I willingly admit when I do wrong instead of constantly denying or hiding it like you."

"How do you know this isn't wrong?"

"I never said it was right in the first place."

"But if you keep this up, you're never going to be able to escape this life."

"Didn't you listen to anything I said earlier? There is no escape!"

"No, there is, but you refuse to believe it. We're not tools for anybody else's enjoyment. You're the one who chooses to go on fighting. No one but you is forcing it upon yourself."

"Because no one else knows about them. There's a difference between protecting the people from the truth they know of, and the deadly truth they don't know about. Enya passed such information to me and me alone, and someone has to stop them. I'm not going to rely on you or anybody else to do the job. I'm the only person outside the pool who knows of their existence…"

"Not anymore."

Val didn't answer this one. She was right. He shared the knowledge Enya gave to him onto Kim. It wasn't the entire picture, but Kim was able to put several pieces of the puzzle together.

"And what you know, you still think you're qualified for saving this world…?" Val quietly asked.

"Of course," Kim replied with confidence. "And tonight is going to be no different."

Val sighed. "Well, when the night is over, we'll see who wins in the end…"

By this time, Elurt was on his knees and still hyperventilating for air. Val stood in between him and Team Possible.

He grunted as he reached a conclusion. "Fine. He's yours, but if I find out he's responsible for someone else's death, you're going to find me at your house, Kim. And I won't be selling magazines, either."

He slowly walked toward her, quickly putting the blade exactly an inch away from her neck.

"But heed this warning. If you ever do anything as to get in my way ever again, I will kill you without hesitation. I don't care the circumstances, time or location. Stay the hell out of my way if your life means anything to you. I don't kill people for such a simple reason, so don't be the first."

Kim clearly didn't appreciate this gesture, but she wasn't scared by the threat. She quickly took two steps back, knowing that Val wasn't going to do anything with the sword. She kept her eyes glued on his as Ron inspected her neck.

"Kim, you okay?"

"I'm fine, Ron."

But from behind Val, Elurt pulled out a sharp weapon and was ready to strike.

"Foolish child! I'll bathe in your blood!"

Val only rolled his eyes as he felt the wind behind him.

"Way to keep swift, sneaky and silent… idiot."

He didn't even need to turn around to know how far Elurt was from him, swiftly slashing the sword in a vertical motion.

Elurt staggered as a mist of rising blood came out of him, but there were no visible wounds on him.

Kim gasped when she noticed a lot of blood on Val's blade.

"And thus, he chooses to end his life at my hands…"

He turned around to face Elurt, who was as stiff as a rock.

"Adieu…. 'comrade'…"

Kim and Ron watched as a vertical trail of blood slowly separated Elurt from top to bottom.

He was sliced in half.

But before he would split into two, Val spun several times on one foot and delivered a hard kick to his former colleague, sending him crashing into the remains of the Hind and with enough force to send both off the building. All of them went to the edge and watched as it fell into the darkness below, exploding into a huge ball of fire on the roof of a building below.

"And it is finished…" Val whispered with some resolve in his voice.

Kim and Ron couldn't believe they had seen real death for the first time. Kim felt extremely disturbed that she didn't take it as bad as she thought she would, since she thought she saw Ron die in front of her (twice if you count the Hangar), but Ron was twitching in shock.

"Don't think about it, Ron. It's over."

"Indeed," said a voice that wasn't Ron's. "He got what was coming to him. But I would advise against that, Kim. If you plan to make hero work your career, you'd better get used to the sight of death. You're going to see it quite often."

Usually, if Kim's enemies succeeded in anything, they would always laugh and gloat in victory. Val did anything but.

"You sure don't look happy," she observed.

Val put the sword away as he wiped his nose. "I already told you, I don't kill for sport or enjoyment. I'm far from avenging Enya, but hopefully the reports of missing women in Thailand cease. As for you both, you'd better get used to the sight. Simply putting bad guys in jail won't last much longer."

"You make it sound like we're only teenagers and you're some old war veteran."

"Just telling you what I know so you can prepare yourselves later for it."

"We're enemies and you're telling us this?"

Val chuckled at Kim's face. "Correction: You only see me as an enemy. Why do I tell you such things? You should know as fighters we share techniques and wisdom with each other, no matter what side you're on or what you believe in."

"You mean you don't see us as enemies?"

"Don't be so irrational. I just see you as a worthy adversary. We're fighting the same enemy but on different sides. If you had asked me three months ago, I would have another answer in mind."

Kim only shook her head in confusion. "You're deranged."

"You're the only teen hero who isn't, but I suppose a public image means so much these days. Maybe one day you'll understand…"

"Enough." Kim snapped. "I don't care if you think you're doing the same as what I'm doing, or how long you've been doing it. You're still a threat, and you have to be stopped. I came up here to stop whoever was behind all of this, and I'm going to do just that."

Val seemed to accept the tone in her voice, his eyes now filled with excited curiosity.

"Is that a challenge?"

Ron kept moving his eyes between Val and Kim, but took note of a brief silence.

"You bet it is."

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

Everyone's eyes widened by the sound.

_BEEP BEEP BE BEEP_

Everyone turned their heads to the scrap pile, finding Rufus awake and with the Kimmunicator in his hands, perfectly reassembled. He slid it towards Kim, who picked it up with ease… probably more so than she should have.

"Go ahead, take the call," Val plainly spoke, turning around.

What Kim and Ron didn't see was that he was inspecting his watch again. Kim felt a huge load of relief after seeing Wade on the small screen (pardon the pun).

"_Kim! Are you all right? I haven't been able to get in touch with you for the last five hours!"_

Five hours?

"We're fine, Wade. It's a long story."

Ron decided to answer. "Got to the top floor, took out the rest of the mechs, fought Elurt, tried to escape but was attacked by a helicopter piloted by Dive. Dive turned out to be Val, crashed the machine into the building, we all survived, went on a huge rant explaining that he actually has history in the hero biz, and that he was behind everything. He fought KP and me, I got knocked out a window, got saved by Yori, who was actually on Val's side. She turned on him, but he won the fight. Elurt came back in the last MPAWV thingie, we all took it down, but Jen took drove it away to keep everyone safe, and Val finished off Elurt, and we're next."

"_Dang. Good to see you survived all of that, but I've got both good news and bad news."_

"Give me the bad sitch first."

"_The people below have gone completely hysterical, riots already bursting out on the outskirts of the city! They don't know what's going on, and for some reason there's no authorities on the scene. Police, SWAT, ambulances, firefighters, nowhere to be seen! Even 911 calls have been blocked out from the immediate area! I have a really bad feeling about this."_

Kim turned her face to Val briefly. How was he able to do this?

"Wondered why no one's been around to help. So what's the good news?"

"_GJ commandos from nearby cities are heading your way. Since no one in Bay City is responding and since it's all over the news, others decided to help."_

"It's all over the news?" Ron cried excitedly.

"Ron, this is serious!"

Even Rufus, now on his owner's shoulder, lightly knocked on Ron's skull. "Serious here!"

"All right, all right."

"Wade, there's some information I want you to look into when this is over."

"_Sure."_

"Try to find any information regarding a group called 'The Bosses'."

"_The Bosses? Okay… Can't say I've heard of them. Why ask?"_

"Apparently, we're not the ones Val's really after. He only wants to fight us, but he has much darker ambitions in mind."

"_I'm on it. I can't say I know what else is going on."_

"Oh, that reminds me. I don't think there's a nuclear threat."

Val turned around with widened eyes upon hearing this.

"_Kim, we're still getting angry letters from France demanding why you haven't found them."_

"What?"

"_Have you forgotten? That's how we were able to verify in the first place that Elurt… or Val rather… wasn't faking the original threat, because the French Government informed us of the missing nukes in the first place."_

Kim slapped her forehead. Of course…

"_Kim, Nev and I have been scanning the whole country for anything nuclear and out of place. Nothing!"_

"What about other countries?"

"_We're getting on that. But right now, you have to get answers out of Val."_

"He said the nukes were here in Bay City, Washington, Paris and London."

"_London and Paris have already searched and came up with nothing."_

"Then where are they…?"

"_I don't know, but you're going to have to force the answers out of Val. One way or the other, we've got to find out."_

"Okay. I can handle him."

A noise on Wade's computer could be heard.

"_Kim, I'm also receiving word about some giant flying machine around where the riots are. Apparently, whatever it is, it's scaring away the rioters and now they're fleeing into whatever building they can."_

It was no news to the world-famous cheerleader. "It's Jen and the Harpuia."

"_Oh…"_

Right then, the storm instantly ceased. Within seconds, the moon and the stars lit the floor of the new roof of the Tower. Kim and Ron were instantly confused by the sudden change, but Val's attention went straight to the sky. Shortly afterward, the sounds of rumbling could be heard from everywhere. Helicopters could be seen approaching from all sides, at least ten in all. He shook the rain off his watch as he tried to study the oncoming vehicles. His concentration was interrupted by Ron.

"Dude, you are so going down now!"

Val calmly scoffed. "What makes you say that? Haven't you and Kim taken down several henchmen at once and succeeded? What makes you think I alone am less capable?"

Kim put away the Kimmunicator while Val seemed to quickly lose himself in thought. He was quick to shrug it off just as soon as she noticed. They all watched as the helicopters arrived and the commandos leap out and onto the roof. There must have been ten per helicopter.

'_Something's wrong…'_ Kim thought.

And there was reason. Instead of ambushing Val like she thought they would, they all quickly ran to the edges, blocking off any escape. At least twelve stood on each side, all four corners being covered as well. They were all surrounded.

"Right on time."

With such mention, the commandos raised their guns, and not at Val.

Ron.

Kim quickly became uncomfortable with so many sights being on him and Rufus. Ron freaked out instantly, trying to stay as still as he could. If it were like the movies, any move and he'd be a goner.

Kim took her attention to her opponent. "VAL! What's going on?"

Val smiled as he patted his hands several times. "You wanted to challenge me, and this is what it comes down to."

Kim quickly figured out this was the beginning of the end, and things were going to go the way he wanted.

"Look, just don't hurt him, all right?"

Val easily noticed that fear didn't find its way onto Kim's face this time.

"I won't. He can sit down if he wants to, but as long as you play by the rules, I promise you no further harm will come to him."

"Name them."

"A one-on-one fight. Just you and me, sister. No weapons, no interference. A fair fight. Only a fair duel to see who the best is."

"Why are you so obsessed with a fight? You have all these commandos here doing your bidding, and you just want to fight?"

"Oh, not just any fight."

Val stopped walking around and let Kim watch the action unfold. The helicopters quickly surfaced from below and lit the floor with spotlights. Not only that, but Kim heard weak machinery approaching. It wasn't long before she noticed small white machines with cameras approach. When they were close enough, the cameras on their heads adjusted to capture Kim and Val in their view. They started to circle the building.

"Cyphers. Unmanned surveillance cameras."

"Cameras? Why would you need cameras for?"

"The audience, of course!" Val let out an amused cackle.

* * *

Suddenly, every television in the world was in on the sitch at the Tower.

* * *

"Audience?"

"That's right, Kimberly Anne! From this moment on, the signals picked up from the cyphers will be shown across the world. Congratulations, Kim. You're worldwide. I hope everyone has some kind of television on, shame that they would miss this."

"You're broadcasting this onto every TV in the world?"

"And why not? All I ask of you is to grant me a final duel, one that neither of us, or the whole world, would dare to forget! Let's make this fight as if it were our last! You're right, there is no nuclear threat. Everything has been done for this moment alone! Fight me, Kim. Fight me and don't you dare hold back! Because I sure as hell won't! Fight… fight to your heart's content! This will be our final fight!"

Val was clearly losing himself in his own excitement. This was what he lived for.

With the cyphers and helicopters circling the building, the moon and spotlights lighting the arena, the bright stars lighting up the sky, and a calm wind setting the effect, Val had prepared Kim for the final and ultimate showdown.

"KP!" Ron cried.

Kim didn't turn to face him. "Ron, just hang tight. I'm the one he's more concerned about."

* * *

"Kim…"

* * *

Ron saw that he was in no position to protest. He had at least fifty guns aimed at him, ready to fire if anyone or anything interfered. It didn't help that two of the commandos had a grip on each of his shoulders, and another with Rufus trapped in his hand. It looked like Rufus was trying to break free.

"Don't interfere, babe. You too, Rufus. This is my fight, and I'm more than willing to take him on alone."

"Kim, you think you can handle him?"

She turned her head slightly so she could see his eyes.

"He's not the only one waiting for this. Besides, anything's possible for a Possible."

* * *

"That's my girl!" 

Everyone around the world, including Kim's family, were treated to a front row seat. What they found peculiar was that the Cyphers gave them an introduction to the two fighters. Not only that, but biographical introductions were given via graphical information. Name, age, physical stats and history were given for both Kimberly Anne Possible and Valhalia Erocus Ryan like a sports show mini-bio. Every language was covered for every country. On Kim's introduction, it showed as she released her hair from a ponytail, pushing it back and moving her head around so that her long red hair didn't interfere with her vision. When the cameras changed to Val, he melodramatically tossed his trenchcoat aside and moved his hair back as well. It was like the beginning of a pay-per-view event.

Leaving the living room was the last thing that came to any member of the Possible household, amongst the Stoppable household, from friends, family, and even enemies. They were all glued in.

"_Only in my wildest dreams have I ever thought to engage in a decisive battle like this with someone like you… I guess dreams do come true. Well… Kimberly Anne… shall we?"_

_

* * *

_

Val had lent out his hand, gesturing for Kim to bring it on. In response, she got into a fighting stance with the calm and cool look that everyone was used to.

"We shall."

There was no rage or anger in her eyes as she accepted the challenge. No more was the dramatic, worried and upset Kim Possible that made it up here with trouble in her mind. She also appeared to have gotten all of her confidence back, and was completely fearless of anything.

She was back and ready to go. If Val wanted one more fight, he was going to get it.

"Yes… that's the look!" he spoke with excited joy.

Again, he chose not to get into a stance, at least that's what it looked like from an outside view. It only had the appearance of standing up straight with arms scarcely extended.

"To see who is qualified…" Val whispered to himself.

"For the fate of the world…" Kim whispered to herself.

"All things will be decided here…" they both whispered in unison.

There was no animation on the roof other than the spotlights and the cyphers.

"Go get'im, KP!" Ron yelled.

"Val, let's finish this once and for all!" Kim cried.

Val let out a manical laugh filled with joy. "Let's!"

Kim and Val charged from opposite ends of the building with all the adrenaline in their blood flowing at full intensity.

"HAVE AT YOU, KIM!"

The true final battle was on, and the world was watching.


	24. 23: Desideratum

**Chapter 23: Desideratum**

_Oh, if I could only animate this… I apologize for any confusion for any of the moves described in this final bout. Try to use your imagination and keep in mind where Kim and Val are and what positions they're in._

_Contrary to what I said before, there are three more chapters. I extended the epilogue into its own chapter. Glad you're all still with me after this reached 200,000 words._

_On with the final battle._

_

* * *

_

So this is what it comes down to…

Kim and Val had engaged in one final duel once more, commandos appearing to be working for GJ lined up against the edges for no escape, and it was all broadcasted on worldwide television. If only there was music involved, this would also add to the intensity of the battle.

But not all was well. The commandos were holding Ron hostage and taking orders from Val. He had several guns aimed at him, but as long as he didn't interfere, he would be safe. But he was fine with that. KP could handle Val. He had his doubts earlier, but watching the fight for just five minutes, he knew his girlfriend definitely stood a chance as she always did.

Compared to the rest of the world, Ron got the real front seat. He could never get it in the movies, but he sure got it here. But as an observer, he also tried to study everything that was going on, and he was already well perplexed before the fight went underway.

The obvious was the so-called GJ commandos. They were all just as huge as Elurt was, but why were they taking orders from someone like Val? GJ works for good, not some fight-crazed maniac like Val, right? Did he still have his ties to the government? Why did they cooperate?

Ron couldn't figure out this one, but if you asked him in person, he'd tell you he was no good at these things.

That wasn't the only thought to cross his mind, though. The second was what Kim had said right after accepting Val's final challenge.

"_For the fate of the world…"_

But didn't Val just confess that there was NO nuclear threat? That the whole thing was faked? But then again, Wade did say the nukes were still missing. Maybe Kim didn't buy it. But then again again, not everything Val said was credible. It seemed like he spoke the truth half of the time, and made stuff up to play them the other half. But then again again again…

Well, that was really all Ron could think of. Usually the bad guy would reveal all right before he tried to kill you, and Val did that for the most part. But he left out just as many details. He couldn't help but think there was still more to everything than Val let on. More bad road ahead? Knowing their luck, maybe.

With how the fight was going, Ron did not wish to interfere in any way. For his sake, he hoped it would stay this way. Yori was still out, and one of the commandos removed her body from the scene. He had a rag in his hand with some kind of substance in it, ready to rub it in Yori's face if she regained consciousness and chose to interfere.

The only thing Ron could do was cheer on the girl he loved.

"Go, Kimbo!"

* * *

Charging at each other like bulls as the spotlights changed the colors of everything like a night club, Kim and Val already knew what their first strategies were. This was the beginning, and neither anticipated that it would end quickly. It was going to be a long and hard fight. Soon, their audience would figure this out by each other's first moves. 

The instant they were within a striking distance, both Kim and Val executed the exact same move, twisting sideways and performing a reverse somersault kick. If one had successfully utilized the move, they would kick their opponent square in the jaw and send them flying. It was a mix of an evasive move and a critical offensive maneuver, but both flew past each other as their bodies made the same motion nerve for nerve. They even exchanged eye contact upside down as they passed the very center of the floor, both with a determined glow in each of their eyes. Whether or not it was due to the swift spotlights was irrelevant.

_Physical prowess means nothing, Kimberly Anne! Only will the spirit's content decide the battle!_

Upon landing, both leapt in the air to perform a spinning airborne roundhouse kick. Like before, they flew past each other.

_Swing and a miss…_

_Likewise…_

This is how the beginning of the fight turned out. Kim and Val would inadvertently perform the exact same move and fly past each other with airborne attacks. Kicks, somersault kicks, knees, elbows and even grapples. At this point, Ron couldn't see if everything was done by chance, or if one was copying the other's technique. Things took for a change when both tried to attack on ground. Kicks collided with kicks, arms collided with each other from backhand attacks, and when it came to punches, fists collided with each other with bone-crunching collisions that could even be heard by the pilots of the helicopters. Both were able to completely hide any pain from it. From there, they went airborne again, shoving their foot into the other's abdomen, bouncing off of each other again and again.

_Proverbial… have you anything new?_

_You haven't seen anything yet!_

At one point, both abruptly went for a spinning kick, but their legs collided with each other, stopping all momentum in them and forcing them to fall. Neither seemed affected by it, and just as they were able to use their hands to balance themselves, both went for a counter sweep with their other legs as they evaded. They picked themselves off the ground with this move. Val dove in for a low sweep, but found Kim high in the air performing a mid-air spinning kick. As soon as she landed, he performed the same move she did, only to find out she did the same. Val went high, Kim went low. Val went low, Kim went high. Both were endlessly spinning as they tried to confuse each other with their next move.

_At this rate neither of us will go anywhere…_

When Val decided to go in for a high spinning kick again, his feminine opponent chose not to go low. She charged straight into her adversary long before his leg could do any damage, striking him down with a hard clothesline. The impact was so great that Val's body somersaulted itself twice in mid-air before his abdomen slammed straight into the floor.

_Good… but not great…_

As of this small moment, Kim was winning the fight. Instead of reacting toward a victorious blow, she kept her guard up, as Val suddenly spun his legs outward. Had Kim not moved backward, he would have wrapped both around her neck and slammed her into the floor. Using the momentum of his spin, Val got onto his feet and jumped at her with a fierce spinning somersault kick that could knock someone's head off. Kim was easy to evade, but it turned out Val's move was meant to fly past her, and he thrusted his other leg outward the second he landed, striking Kim in the back of the neck. He quickly followed with another spinning kick that sent her back sliding against the wet terrain. She used this momentum to send her body upward and back onto her feet.

_Val, this ends here and now!_

_I would have it no other way!_

Both fighters smirked at each other as people around the world roared. Everyone watching was astonished. Many of Val's attacks were so quick that the human eye, or cypher cameras for that matter, could not see them. He attacked with grace, power, and lightning-fast agility that they thought only existed in the movies.

But it wasn't _that_ that caught people's attention.

It was the fact that Kim was, too.

She fought with no less grace and power, but that was no surprise to anyone who knew Kim. It was the fact that she was actually matching Val's speed with her offensive that was. No one knew how or why, and even Ron himself couldn't believe his eyes. Where did this come from? Kim didn't even know of it. While she had already seen how quick Val was, he was not as fast as he could have been in this fight. At least, that's what Kim thought. If she had taken the time to look at her surroundings, she would have noticed that time slowed down. It wasn't science or the supernatural.

_Yes… Now you see…_

Continuing the fight, they walked calmly toward each other, casually even. This was done not only in an attempt to keep the other guessing, but also to maintain their stamina for a brief moment. They kept their eyes glued on each other like predators.

_Impressive, but I grew to expect the unexpected some time ago! I hope that's not your only trick!_

_I haven't even started._

No one really realized that Kim had learned so much about her opponent within the last couple of hours. Not only did she try to figure out who he was as a person, but his fighting ability as well. Upon her sparring lessons with Ron, she was able to better interpret her opponent's moves. She would learn how they were executed, where to be when attacked, and probably the deadliest of them all: How to perform the same moves and tactics against your opponent.

_No… not. at. all._

Throughout the night, Val had been mimicking everyone else's moves against them. Kim's current strategy was that if she could confuse an opponent by using their own moves against them, she could have a chance at victory. She wouldn't rely on this strategy for long, as Val was soon to figure things out.

The walk also gave her time to develop another strategy, and she was sure that Val was doing the same.

_Let's dance._

When they were close enough, they instantly went on the offensive again. Val was the first to start, charging at Kim as he thrust his elbow out. She managed to dive right under his arm, and he immediately attacked with a back kick. This time, Kim not only somersaulted backward, striking Val in the chin while avoiding his attack, but she also performed a swift cartwheel to her side just as she landed. Both of her heels managed to strike him twice over and knocked him back.

Once Val's head realigned itself, he charged at Kim as he twisted his body like a screwdriver, heading low. Kim quickly leapt into the air to avoid the oncoming attack, but without an attack of her own, Val took quick advantage of this. Before going underneath her, he cancelled out his attack and performed a front somersault, striking Kim's chest and landing on it. She was quickly able to brush him off as she rolled over, but also wrapped her legs in-between his, forcing him to lose balance. As quickly as he fell, she got up.

She knew that Val would attack as quickly as he got up, and she was right. Val did a handspring to get back on his feet, and at this point, his back was facing her. He quickly jumped and landed behind her, perfectly switching positions with a clear view of Kim's back. She could feel the wind behind her and ducked as Val's metal arm swung over her. She kept in the same position in case he thought she would get up. If she had done that, she would be blind to an oncoming attack. Instead, Val had anticipated this, using his spinning motion and the same arm for that matter to drive his elbow up Kim's abdomen as he moved to her side. It had enough force to send her up in the air, in which he did a spinning kick with his body parallel to the ground. Instead of kicking her aside, he dug his foot hard into her body so that she wouldn't fly away, spun a full 360 and sent debris everywhere as her back broke into the floor.

Val quickly leapt off, but was surprised to find that Kim grabbed him in mid-air and slammed the top of his head into the marble floor. Considering what just happened, she shouldn't have been able to get up so quickly, but she did. Kim foolishly kept close, and Val used a handspring to pick himself up, kicking Kim straight in the face before he somersaulted onto his feet. He was pleasantly surprised to see his cheerleader opponent fought to avoid falling off her feet.

_Speed may determine the winner in kung fu, but this is more than that…_

The changes in Kim's attitude were clearly present, and Val was more than glad that she chose to fight like this than before. He wasn't interested in making a fool of Kim by using endless counters on her. He wanted the fight to last as long as it could, until one or the other was exhausted out of their minds. As long as she maintained her composure, she proved to be a worthy adversary. Perhaps more.

"Go Kimbo!"

The first words blurted out ever since the bout began.

Both Kim and Val silently smirked at each other as they continued. The entire time the fight had almost been silent, minus the usual grunts and cries from blows and evasive maneuvers. No dialogue was shared between them, but they could easily see what they were thinking just by the looks in their eyes. The reason for the absence of discourse was because Val was only interested in the fight and Kim chose to look at her adversary in a different light. She knew that if she continued to fight out of anger and make this a personal fight, she would lose. But if she could keep her cool and see her enemy as a fighter, blocking out any thoughts towards the recent events, she could do this.

_Live in the moment, my friend…_

But in the back of Kim's mind, another realization: Her reputation. If the world was watching, she had to win to keep the respect and trust of the people, those who knew of her and those who were saved by her. If she lost with the world watching, her career would be down the tubes. But that was nowhere as important as fulfilling her mission and defeating her opponent. And that was all she would do.

_Yes… that's the look I've been waiting for…_

If either of them said anything, it could trigger conversation, and Kim knew that if Val spoke he'd speak simply to tug at her nerves. But the looks in each others eyes, there was something different about it…

After shaking the water from each of their heads, they went at each other once again. While Kim's thoughts were focused on why she was fighting this fight, Val had changed his strategy. The two were constantly doing it to avoid move prediction.

Kim started off by changing her position, as she was near one of the commandos. She too pondered about their actions, but other things were more important right now. She leapt in the air with intention to fly over Val, but he leapt as high as she did. The two collided in mid air, chest to chest, but Val turned things around by putting his biceps around Kim's neck. She didn't even need to descend for a second to know he was about to slam her neck against the floor again, and she managed to grab his arm and free herself from the attack. Again, the two landed the same distance from the center.

They quickly engaged in a fistfight again, having Kim defend herself against Val's punches. However, since his legs were idle, Kim slipped one of hers around Val's, and started her onslaught. This kept Val pinned in place unless he wanted to lose his balance and fall. As she expected, it wouldn't be easy as he defended himself by pushing her fists away. He too noticed that her legs were idle, and he figured out how to escape. By moving his trapped leg backward, it knocked Kim off balance, but she spun herself using her other foot to keep from falling. She was able to quickly use her now-free leg to attack, using the same spin to deliver a kick. Val caught her foot in his hands just inches away from his face. This time, he decided to pull Kim forward as he dashed under her, thrusting his leg as hard but quickly as he could into Kim's spine.

To everyone's surprise, it sent Kim flying high into the air. The throw was enough to even send Kim higher than the helicopters.

Val was ready to deliver an endless barrage of grave punches to Kim to save her from the fall, and he didn't bother to keep his eyes open while performing the attack. He had mastered it from long ago. He knew what to do.

But he should've kept his eyes open.

Instead of striking Kim in the stomach, he felt both of her hands wrap around his. She was able to turn her body upward as she descended, anticipating this kind of attack. Now that she had a grip on cold steel, she used the momentum in her fall to swing her legs around to the side and send both of them straight into the side of Val's head with one blow.

Only afterward did she finally land back on the floor, only to find Val still on his feet and ready to engage her once again.

_Crafty…_

It appeared that he was about to thrust his human fist at her, and she moved to the side in reflex. However, just as his fist connected to where her head once was, he cancelled out the move and instantly grabbed Kim. His metal arm was wrapped around her, his hand with a firm grip on one of her shoulders, and a leg wrapped around one of hers. Now both were facing the same direction. He quickly went for a front somersault throw that would have Kim following his motion and landing on her back. Like before, she figured out how to escape in time, and Val tossed himself onto his own back. Laying down, he grabbed one of Kim's legs and attempted to throw it, but she tried to shake him off. In the end, he ripped the bottom portion of her pant leg off. He threw it at her face in an attempt to blind her momentarily, but she slapped it aside. But once she resumed her sight to Val, he was nowhere to be seen.

Kim quickly figured that he was right behind her, and the fact that Val had already slammed one of his knees into her spine wasn't the cause. The blow was enough to send Kim in the air again, and Val used the same leg to perform a vertical axe kick that sent Kim back on the floor. Once she opened her eyes, she saw a boot ready to crush her skull. She grabbed it with both of her hands just inches away from her nose, and used the weight of it to get back onto her own feet. Val was eager to swing his other leg across her face, but missed as Kim slanted her spine backward. Her grip still strong on Val's foot, she swung him around and tossed him upward into the air, upside down and his back facing her. She ran a couple of steps before launching herself in the air and delivering a dragon kick (that's an airborne kick that uses the momentum of a run to knock your opponent down even if they manage to guard against it) onto Val's spine. It struck, but he was able to flip his body in the air, ready to land on his feet.

_Come on. I have yet to see what you're made of._

_I'll be glad to deliver._

Things took an abrupt turn when Kim tried to ambush him with a serious offensive. She didn't even allow Val to get on the ground before slamming her foot on his and punching him in the face repeatedly. She didn't allow for an ounce of breathing space, striking him with whatever she had every time his head recoiled. Since he couldn't even line his head up with hers, it was impossible to accurately shove her fists away and defend himself. This went on for at least seven seconds before Val's head snapped back in a completely different direction, and he was now able to see what was going on. As she was ready to deliver a left hook, he caught onto her fist with his right hand. She was about to counter with her own right, but he moved her arm around so that she wasn't able to make contact, and trapped it between her arm and his. Letting out an intense battle cry, he quickly unleashed a powerful uppercut on Kim with his metal hand. It was more than enough to send Kim screaming in pain as her body flew in the air, crashed onto the floor and rolled several times before she came to a full stop right next to Ron. He maintained his distance as everyone else kept their ground from the shockwave that spread throughout the arena.

"KP!"

The blow rendered her almost unconscious, and there was reason. What caught the attention of everyone on the roof was that it started to suddenly rain pieces of scrap metal, mostly screws. Once Ron turned his attention to Val, he was still standing with his arm high in the air.

But there was no hand to go with it.

The blow Val delivered to Kim was so powerful that it destroyed his entire cybernetic hand. This even put him in a state of shock. Because he designed his arm to have the same weight and mass as his human skeletal arm, he could only imagine if he had used that fist instead. Because there were no nerves in his bio-mech arm, he didn't feel any pain at all. With Kim nearly incapacitated, he collapsed onto his knees, panting for air. He was clearly starting to grow exhausted.

On Kim's end, Ron tried to yell as much as he could to wake Kim up.

"Kim! Get up! Answer me! Please respond! Come in, Kim! Earth to KP!"

Finally, his girlfriend let out a painful moan. "Ron… I'm awake, okay…?"

He could see her wince with every movement of her jaw.

"You all right?"

Kim decided to speak through clenched teeth to avoid further pain. "I am so going to feel that for a week. Ow…" She hadn't realized that her opponent destroyed a limb with that last blow, spitting out a small mist of blood through her teeth. "At least my jaw's not broken. But still… ow…" She was quick to rub her eyes and her head, and focused on rubbing her chin afterward. "Ow…"

Ron to say the least was surprised. From the impact of the blow and the way Kim flew in the air, it looked like it was more than enough to break her jaw. She should have been spitting out all her teeth at this moment. But she only pouting as she did in cheerleading practice when Bonnie destroyed the pyramid and sent her falling nine feet below. It was amazing she was still conscious.

"You're incredible, Kim. I thought you were down for the count!"

Kim rubbed her jaw further as she spoke through her teeth. "Well, Ron. This is what happens when you eat a nutritious meal everyday," she weakly smiled.

Apparently, Ron thought the whole "strong bones through a balanced breakfast" was just a conspiracy theory or a myth, since he had been doing it for as long as he could remember and nothing showed (and half the time he ate Bueno Nacho, which we all know was anything but a nutritious meal). It never occurred to him that it played a huge role in his training and even the incident at the hangar.

Kim wanted to get up, but the pain multiplied tremendously once she got onto her feet. In reflex she instantly got onto her knees. She couldn't see what was going on with Val because of the helicopter spotlights forming a silhouette of him, but she could see that he too was panting for air.

Break time.

* * *

"Hon, did you just see that?" 

"I did… oh, poor Kimmie. But I hope she's right in it not being broken…"

"Kim will be fine. Now that other guy, I can't believe he destroyed his own hand like that!"

"I know! That is so cool! If he decides to take on our sister with only one hand, that would be just-"

"Boys, we've told you many times before, no rooting for the villain!"

"Sorry, Dad."

* * *

But the hand wasn't quite the reason Val was panting. Like his opponent, he had weaknesses of his own, and his primary one was not knowing when to quit. This wasn't the first time he engaged himself in a fight today. He had already taken on the three teen teams, Kim in a Hind F, both fighters of Team Possible, Ferno, Yori, Elurt, and now Kim again. He may have been AAA-grade material in just about everything, but his flaw as a fighter was that he barely took his stamina and vitality into mind. 

He had also become fully aware that Kim's fighting abilities had multiplied tremendously in this bout. Upon his further research on the well-revered hero, he gathered footage on Kim's many fights. She was not only able to keep her cool, but she was a quick thinker in combat, able to utilize all of her limited abilities quite well. Defense, offense, counters, throws; she had it all down. He had hoped that with Kim's training with her ninja boyfriend that she'd learn so much, but he found himself disappointed to no end how carelessly she fought him the first time with just her fists. Even he knew that brute strength and anger would not easily determine the victor. If Kim could only fight him out of hatred and lose focus of who she was and what she stood for, then she was finished. Shego had fought her for that reason alone, and Monkey Fist fought completely out of arrogance; overestimating his own abilities and underestimating all those who stood in his way. There were times where they won, but their records consisted almost entirely of losses by the high school student.

As much as Val himself denied it, he too was arrogant. Of course, most people at eighteen would just die for the knowledge, experience, and abilities that were his, but Val didn't let them go to his head this time around. He was confident of what he could do, and while he refused to see himself as all-knowing, he did a lot of research on everything his mind came to. Although he gave off the appearance that he was completely insane, he actually did have a good notion of what was really right and what was truly wrong in a world gone mad. It got to the point where he wanted to actually challenge the whole world and reform it. But with all opposition in high numbers, it would not be easy.

He had a few things on his mind, and with the fact that he wasn't engaged in combat, he gazed upon his opponent. The last blow did seem to put in her in instant pain, but at the cost of a limb; one that while designed to be just as strong and fragile as human bone. He was only slightly surprised now, remembering that the Bio-Mech technology wasn't quite as revolutionary as everyone must have thought. He knew that Kim and Ron would easily see it as an advantage on his part, but now he was at only a slight disadvantage. Yes, slight. Before having to completely reassemble his arm the first time, he learned how to defend himself without a hand. He couldn't directly attack now, but he could still hold his own. One hand was all he needed.

He wasn't going to give up just now. Good thing on his part, too, as Kim was starting to get back on her feet. She cracked her knuckles before resuming her battle stance. In return, Val got back into his own. Instead of charging at each other as they had done again and again, they chose to slowly engage each other. When they were close enough, they walked in circles. The audience couldn't tell whether they were trying to make up another strategy for themselves or try to anticipate the next move.

_You're tougher than I thought._

_It'll take more than that to knock me out._

Then Kim started out, dashing to Val's side in an attempt to shoulder slam him, but he had performed the same move just as she did. As before, they knocked each other back but were quickly at it again. Kim knew that she got him good with her onslaught of punches to his face, at least until the uppercut came along, and she had to land a move like that again. She knew it would be a bad idea to do it again so quickly, so she went for one of her usual attacks. Low punch to the gut and-

Val was quick to catch her fist before it reached him and tossed her across the roof. Kim was quick to catch the sitch she was in and landed on her feet. She quickly went for Val again, but now she was focused on striking his left. Without a hand he wouldn't be able to deliver a fierce offensive. Wrong. Every time Kim went to attack there, Val grabbed whatever appendage she attacked with and tossed her across the room. There were also many times where he tried to slam her onto the ground, sometimes using his own body to harden the blow, but Kim managed to escape every counter that came her way. Even if Val was successful in throwing her, she always landed on her feet.

She kept firm in thinking his left was a weakness, but Val knew that using an arm without a hand would easily confuse his opponent, if not gross her out. He would feign a punch with the very arm to throw Kim off, as there was no fist to attack her with. But that didn't also leave him defenseless. Often he would tangle his arm around her right arm and keep advancing to prevent her from escaping, but Kim was able to anyway by shoving her foot up his nose. He quickly retaliated by performing a backhand with his left arm, but Kim didn't even step back. He completely missed, quickly realizing something.

Another disadvantage: Reach.

He came to realize this after his arm went past Kim's nose, but she didn't let it get past her face before getting a firm grip where Val's wrist should have been. She attempted to turn around and pull him over and throw him on his back, but his arm easily slid out of her grip due to the absence of a wrist. Kim quickly realized her back was facing him and quickly somersaulted over him. She found it awkward that Val chose not to turn around, but it gave her a clear opening at his head, neck and back. She quickly went to attack his neck with a swift and deadly chop, but he was able to block it out with his arm. Kim repeated the same moves again and again using both hands and even her legs, but Val didn't bother to turn around as he constantly defended himself. In the middle of another attempted strike, he quickly turned spun around and kicked her straight in the gut, sending her skidding across the rooftop. She refused to take a fall.

Out of nowhere, Val let out a loud sneeze. Another disadvantage: He caught Ron's cold. But he wasn't going to let that stop him at all.

At this point, both realized that at this rate, even with their current injuries and exhaustion, they could still go at it for some time. Val was having a ball, and Kim would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't enjoying this, but even as fighters they were both still human beings.

Ron could also note this as well from where he was at. Both fighters were getting winded. At first, they had both taken several hits but went on as if nothing had happened to them. But as the fight went on, both Kim and Val were hurt by more kicks, throws, punches and counters. You could go on fighting if you didn't take any hits, but such a thing couldn't be said for the two. Their thoughts laid on this as well. They wouldn't last much longer before losing the energy to continue, so it was time to end it. They could see the sparks in each others' eyes with this in mind.

_You exceed your reputation…_

_Compliments aren't going to help you!_

_How much longer can you last?_

_Longer than you._

_We shall see._

Charging at each other for the last time, they went into an all out brawl. No special moves, nothing fancy, and defense was the last thing to cross their mind. Once they were close, Kim had landed the first punch at Val, striking him right on his temple. Once he regained himself after staggering, he struck in the same place. Kim went for a left hook, which Val blocked with his left arm. But Kim quickly used her right to strike.

From here, it was an endless clash of strikes to the face. Neither chose to defend themselves as often as they normally would, willingly taking the damage. They were exhausted to the point where it started to interfere with their minds. Kim punched Val several times in this face, and he was quick to return the favor. But instead of using his left arm as his fist, he chose his elbow as a replacement. Almost being knocked down from that, Kim did the same, usually shoving an elbow into Val's jaw right after a punch either hit or miss.

Ron was starting to get worried as blood started to make its appearance from both fighters' mouths. At this rate, he thought they were going to kill each other. Then he saw something in each of their eyes. Everything went into slow motion for Ron as he watched the two continue on. He wasn't sure why this was, but he could see the deranged enjoyment on both the face of his girlfriend and her bewildering opponent. Their clothes torn, burned, dirty, bloody and wet, their faces cut with small cuts, soaked by rain and sweat _(hey, I made a rhyme)_, neither knew when to give up.

Then it happened.

Everything slowly returned to normal as he heard both Kim and Val deliver loud battle cries as they both lunged a hard fist into each other's faces at the same time. The bone-crunching blow echoed throughout the place as time froze. The only areas that moved on each were their eyes, soon their muscles. After that, they rubbed their sweaty fists off each other's faces. From there, Kim attacked with one more fist, but Val blocked it with his left hand.

From where Ron was, he could see Val's right hand go into a fist and charge back. He would have yelled to warn Kim, but something inside held back from doing such a thing. He could only fear the worst, but he dared to watch.

Just as he predicted, Val's arm went straight into an uppercut motion, but instead of using his fist, he turned it into an elbow blow at the last minute. If this was going to be anything like the last uppercut, he didn't want to watch, so Ron looked away and closed his eyes.

But instead of hearing the collision of human bones at high velocity, Ron only heard the wind howl. Upon opening his eyes, he saw for a split second of what happened. Just as his elbow was centimeters away from Kim's lips, she moved her head aside. As a result, the wind from the attack only sent her hair upward. Val completely missed, and he knew it. Upon making eye contact with Kim's, she could see that his eyes were those of shock. He could see a sly look in hers.

From there, Kim immediately slammed her foot on once of his, trapping him. Before he could return his left arm to normal position, she threw everything she had at him, punching him as hard as she could and using every ounce of energy she had left in her fists. Val had tried to escape, assuming that Kim's light weight would have made it easy to knock her off. But she put just as much strength in her foot to keep him secured, and would not let go. He had lost his balance a few times, and in his efforts to regain it, he only met Kim's fists further. It also didn't help that he was temporarily blinded by every sneeze.

Ron couldn't believe it. Val was getting the beating of his life. He was also starting to grow scared of Kim again, because in the past, moments like this would show an intense rage in her eyes. Yet, once he was able to focus in on Kim, he saw that there was no such thing in them.

It didn't last as Kim's face changed as she let out a loud cry that was filled with the utmost intensity.

Ron watched as she charged up her own uppercut, and Val had already been knocked into another world from her onslaught. He couldn't even see straight.

A loud, thundering and bone-cracking roar filled the air as Kim's fist made contact with Val's mouth, sending sweat flying high in the air and blood from between his teeth. The blow was so powerful that it sent him high and far in the air, and from the looks of things, it almost sent his head off and might have broken his neck. Once his body made contact with the floor again, his body rolled uncontrollably before it came to a completely stop in-between Kim and the commandos.

A weak groan from Val was enough to determine the end result of the fight.

Kim.

The fight was over. The mission was over. Everything was over.

To her, everything went silent. Beaten, panting, and yet triumphant, Kim came to realize exactly what happened as time resumed itself.

"Boo…oo…y…ah…"

The commandos knew that the fight was over, and Ron was released as they lowered their arms. The first thing he did was sprint to his girlfriend.

"Kim! You did it!"

She didn't respond, but Ron knew that she could barely maintain her footing. He wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders to support her. The commandos stayed in place for some reason, but now that the fight was over, Ron knew what came next: Answers, if Val were still conscious and alive, that is.

As the two slowly walked up to his lifeless body, they could see that his chest was moving, a clear indicator that he was breathing. Other than that, he appeared to be unconscious. Kim released herself from Ron's grip and walked up to Val's body to confirm his condition. He was out all right. Once determining this, she slowly turned around to her boyfriend.

"I… I did… didn't I?"

Suddenly, she felt a slight breeze on the back of her neck, and she turned around to see what it was. Her face met with Val's. Their noses just an inch from touching, she could hear hoarse breathing from him. Time stood still as both stared at each other. Beaten, bruised, exhausted, and barely conscious. Their eyes were not of anger and hate, but of mutual respect as warriors.

…

…

No thoughts entered their mind. They stared at each other's eyes for about ten seconds before they both collapsed backward.

Val's back quickly met the marble floor as Kim found support in Ron. He didn't even need to say anything as he saw her closed eyes. She had completely passed out, but instead of a face drawn by pain, there was a small but cute smile on it. Even though her hair was wet, dirty and tangled, her face and arms having several small cuts and some bruises, dirty and wet, there was an odd purity to her. She looked beautiful.

From here on out, Ron would carry his girlfriend in his arms.

"Go ahead and rest, KP… I'll take it from here."

The moment was interrupted when he heard a hoarse male cough.

"Sto… Stoppable…"

"Val? No way…"

Val coughed up a small mist of blood. "The fight is over… I lost… I finally lost…"

Ron could've sworn the tone in his voice was serene. "Dude, you sound like you're happy."

Val tried to laugh, but sneezed instead. "Perhaps… I wasn't concerned with winning or losing… Victory in battle doesn't mean anything to me anymore… When you fight people with endless and endless victories… it starts to grow repetitive… lose its meaning… Just being engaged in the fight was all I wanted… and Kim delivered… That was all…"

"Wait, you wanted to lose?"

"Surprised? I don't fight to win… I fight because it makes me feel alive… Fate never allowed other than endless victories… I needed something new… We become obsessed… with new… unfamiliar feelings… I only felt that once… but that was no real fight… In all honest and fairness… I lost to a beautiful valkyrie… The feeling… I can't describe it… Nostalgic…? Inner peace…? I wish I knew…"

Ron didn't know what to say.

"All tranquility aside… reach into my left pocket… In there you'll find… what's rightfully yours."

Ron did so without question, and was shocked to find a ring case.

"Why do you have this?" Ron yelled with intense anger, grabbing Val by the throat with one hand.

Val coughed again, but chuckled. "Protecting it… you were going to lose it on the fall earlier… it would be a shame to see this… go to waste… Don't worry… Kim hasn't seen it… I must admit… you have good taste in jewelry…"

Ron would normally become freaked out by the smile on Val's face, but it wasn't one of insanity. It was one of envy.

"I was wrong about you before… You really do love her…"

"Yeah, what gave it away?" Ron sarcastically asked.

"Be cool, Ron…" Val let out another violent cough. "I protected that and that's… how you show your gratitude…? Never mind… I'd expect that much… out of you for what I did…"

"Dude, if you wanted to lose, then… why all of this? I don't get it!"

"I expected that much… out of you, too…" Another grating cough. "Don't get me wrong… I wish I could really tell you… but…"

Val slowly rolled his eyes in a circular motion, referring to the commandos. He couldn't say things here?

"…now is not the time…"

Ron turned his attention to his sleeping beauty, observing all the damage done.

"So, are you satisfied?"

"Not entirely… but I got my enjoyment… she was worth it…"

Ron could only grind his teeth.

"Go ahead… say it… I'm insane… I'm deranged… I'm the worst of the worst… What kind of person would get a thrill… out of fighting a girl… like Kim…?"

"A lot of people. Monkey Fist and Shego come to mind." Ron suddenly replied calmly.

"That's… not what I meant… but whatever…"

"Look, I know you're having some kind of weird moment of enlightenment, but…"

"I know… I know… The nukes…"

"Yeah."

"There was no threat… there was never a real threat… but…"

"What, did you lie about everything?"

"No… some of… aid was tr… no… ll of w…"

Val fought his hardest to let his words make their way out of his mouth, but he passed out almost immediately.

Ron sighed. _'There go the answers again.'_

His thoughts were immediately disrupted when everything turned red by gun sights. Ron's sword was still near the corner of the roof, and even if the commandos let him reach it, he didn't know how to deflect bullets from all directions. With both Kim and Val knocked out, he wasn't sure what to do.

"Um, Rufus?"

The naked mole rat had the same look on his face, putting his hands up in surrender.

"We're screwed."

Ron groaned at his pet. "Rufus, I was kind of hoping for something more… y'know, hopeful! 'We're screwed' doesn't help us much!"

The two let out an eerie gulp. Ron quickly turned around, Kim still in arms, to see the leader of the commandos approach him. He appeared to be communicating via radio.

"Yes, Ryan and Possible are unconscious. Terminate all? Affirmative."

Well, this was nice. Surrender was not an option. Ron didn't think he had a chance against this fully armed commando, not that he had time to think about it. He watched as the laser sight on the leader's rifle quickly went to his forehead, and quickly pulled the trigger without a thought. Ron shut his eyes, and was ready for the darkness to turn into light. However, everything was still dark, now accompanied by the sound of steel clashing against just about everything. Ron opened his eyes again, only to see that the commandos were all yelping in surprise as their guns were suddenly hacked in two. The ones who still had functional weapons tried to fire at Ron, but either the bullets were deflected or sliced in half. No one could determine the cause, not even Ron himself. One thing had come to mind. Stealth camo? He wasn't sure if it was destroyed in the Hind explosion.

He quickly took a peek to where his sword was, but it was gone.

He also turned his eyes to where Val was, but he was still laying there unconscious. The invisible clashing continued as baffled faces spread throughout the rooftop. Not only were the commandos' guns sliced in half, but most of their weapons had also been sliced apart. Within a minute they were all completely disarmed.

Ron became even more confused when he started to hear the radio communication again. This time, he could hear the voice on the other side as the commando winced in pain.

"_ABORT MISSION! GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! DO YOU HEAR ME?"_

It was a female voice. Elderly.

The commando on the receiving end had to regain himself before he answered. "Affirmative. Fall back!"

The commandos immediately took their leave as the helicopters lowered and took them in. Within seconds all of the commandos had jumped off the building and onto the helicopters and flew away. Just as Ron made eye contact with one of the cyphers, they made their leave as well, flying off into the great unknown. He had no idea what the heck just happened, but he was more concerned with the mysterious entity that saved him. Almost immediately, he could feel something in the air… a scent. It smelled of a light perfume, but not the kind you'd purchase from the store. It smelled of flowers, and not just ordinary flowers. It was then that he recognized it.

"Yori…"

Right then he saw his blade slide across the floor, coming to a stop near his feet. He hoped to see the ninja girl in front of him, but she was nowhere to be seen. Rufus didn't know what to make of it, but leapt back into Ron's pocket, leaving him alone in the cold and lonely night. Much like prom, once everyone had left, the energy in the scene went along with them. The only thing left was the wind. Like before, he was holding Kim in his arms, but this time she wasn't in makeup or a blue dress, even though one could compare the burnt clothes. Tonight was anything but romantic, and it appeared that the night was not to last much longer. A hint of light could be seen from the horizon.

So Val, whatever he was up to, failed. Was it over? In Ron's mind, it was. Confused as he was, Val was no longer a threat.

That didn't mean it was time to leave. Ron gently put Kim down and made his way toward what was still left of their equipment. Val was right, most of it couldn't be put back together. Plastic was broken or melted, wires were cut again and again, metal was bent, melted or rusted, and glass suffered the same fate. Ron found it odd that the Kimmunicator was the only device not completely broken apart. But Kim already had that on her, so Ron tried to pick up what was still important. Instead of going for the exterior parts of their equipment, he went entirely for hardware chips and put what he could in his pockets. It wasn't a lot. Most of them had been burned by the fires of the Hind or soaked by the rain, but whatever was left he still picked up.

If anyone else were to arrive on the roof later, there would be no trace of Wade's technology to duplicate. Then he found it. The stealth camo. The plastic cover only suffered burnt marks, but the device inside was completely unharmed. He also put that in his pocket as well. Could be handy.

After that, he picked up his girl and carried her toward the stairs, but he stopped when he heard an approaching noise. Rotors. Much to his delight, with frustration, he saw that official Bay City police helicopters were on their way.

"Oh, _now_ they get here."

Ron didn't even need to do anything to grab the pilot's attention. There was more than plenty of space to land, but Ron decided to put Kim on one end of the building, and drag Val to the same area. For their own safety, of course. He didn't seem to have a problem with picking up Kim and putting her down repeatedly, and picked her up again as the plane was coming to a land. He shielded both his and her eyes from the winds.

When the plane would land, the police would offer to help with Kim, but he refused. He chose to carry her all the way in. The pilot didn't appear to be surprised that Ron looked frustrated as he lay Kim to rest inside.

"What took you so long?" Ron demanded.

"We were ordered not to arrive at the scene. Some other team already had it handled, we were told."

"From who? Which team?"

"I'm not authorized to answer those questions, I'm afraid. But we couldn't just sit back anymore."

Ron didn't even bother anymore. It took off right after that, and from the window he witnessed as another police team tied Val up and took him away in another chopper.

* * *

Colors. Both cool and warm colors… beautiful colors… 

"R…. Ron?"

"_Looks like you're awake."_

Once Kim's vision became clear, she could see a beautiful sunrise. There was a dark and shady person nearby, and came to realize they were on the rooftop of a small building. The second she interpreted all of this, she grabbed Ron as hard as she could and gave him a hard and tight hug. Once she released herself, she blushed in embarrassment to find that Ron was still carrying her in his arms. She was quick to become distracted by the red sunrise, being absorbed in its colors.

"It's beautiful…"

"Yeah. I figured this was a nice view."

"It is…"

Both kept their eyes onto the vibrant colors of the skies, and it wouldn't be long until the sun would come and light the city.

"So… what happened?" Kim knew when she was out, but not what happened during then.

Ron didn't pick it up immediately. "What? Val? He said there was never a nuclear threat, but he passed out before he could deliver the details. Police got him."

"Oh. Did he say anything else?"

Ron didn't even notice anything suspicious in Kim's tone. "Nothing important, and you know I only remember the important stuff."

Kim giggled. She knew what Ron was hiding, but she would let patience build up her excitement. "Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think it's all over?"

Ron sighed. "Val's no longer a threat, but there's a lotta unanswered questions, too."

The city was silent and peaceful for the time being, and the two wanted to enjoy this moment. Ron would slowly notice that Kim's fingers were crawling up his cheeks. Once he turned to look at her, he took a deep gaze into her beautiful green eyes, shining with red from the sky. Ron also had the same look in his eyes, and it wasn't long before the two engaged in yet another long and passionate kiss that would last for several minutes. It was a long and hard time for them, and they finally got what they deserved from it. Kim had waited for a moment like this for so long, a long kiss in front of a beautiful sunset. Normally Ron would sleep in, and sometimes she would too. But the scene was just too perfect. She melted like butter from the sensation. After a long few minutes, their lips departed.

"I love you, Ron Stoppable."

"I love you too, Kim Possible."

Kim giggled and gave Ron an Eskimo kiss right on the nose. While her body was still in pain, she also felt a huge load of relief, like a huge boulder of strain and stress fell right off her back.

"Um, Ron?"

"Uh huh?"

"You can put me down now. I think I can stand."

Ron already forgot he was holding her. "Oh, okay."

It took Kim some time to balance herself as Ron gently released her, but she managed. She quickly cuddled herself up against him, rubbing her head onto his chest. Maybe Val was right about one thing, the feeling of love when you hold someone tightly; it was enough to warm your blood in a sensational feeling. Kim could never explain it, but there was something about being in Ron's arms she loved so much. The beauty of the scene started to slowly dwindle as the city itself woke up. It wasn't long before cars were running and people were walking. But to their surprise, they heard a clicking sound from behind.

A camera.

When they turned around to see what it was again, the noise was heard again. The person behind it gave them a cute beam. It was obviously not a cypher.

"Jen!"

The blonde with the camera waved. "You guys are so cute together! I am so jealous."

Both Kim and Ron blushed, not knowing what to say to that. Jen took the moment to take another picture, and both hid their faces.

"Aw, c'mon! Don't hide now!"

Kim giggled as she pulled her hands away from her face. "Stop it…! Why do you have a camera?"

"Memories worth remembering, duh," she smiled. "And besides, look at the beautiful scenery. It's so romantic. I gotta hand it to you, you two really belong together."

Kim cleared her throat. "You don't suppose we could enjoy the moment further?"

Jen shook her head uneasily. "That's actually the reason I'm here. I know it looks good, but you have to be extremely careful in this town. The second the sun comes up, it unleashes a blinding light all over the city for a split second. I don't think you would want something like that to ruin the moment."

Ron lightly scoffed. "Blinding lights? Psshaw! Ron can handl-"

Just as Jen said, once the sun appeared, it released a blinding light. She and Kim covered their eyes as Ron got a front row seat.

"AAAH! It burns us! It burns us!"

Running around while covering his eyes, it was no surprise that he lost his balance and collapsed backwards. Both girls laughed.

Jen offered to help Ron up. "Well, now that that's out of the way, it's good to see you both made it out of there in one piece."

"How about you?" Kim asked. "What happened with you?"

Jen pulled Ron onto his feet, patting the dirt off his back. "I guess all the commotion on the Tower caught the attention of the people, and riots broke down on the outskirts of the city. Good thing I was armed with a flying battle tank. Even though I scared the crap out of everyone, it kept them from looting and destroying things."

Ron noticed a smile crawled its way onto her face. "Had fun, didn't ya?"

"Heck yeah!" she cried ecstatically, "Too bad it ran out of fuel and I had to land it elsewhere. I wouldn't mind having one of those puppies around to fly in."

Kim smiled. "Figures."

"But one thing bothered me, though."

"Let me guess," Ron smirked, "No police?"

"Yeah… it makes no sense."

"One of them helicopter pilots told me they were ordered not to interfere, that those commandos had everything covered."

Jen was lost in thought. "I've never seen those guys in my life…"

Kim was suspicious of who they were as well. "I didn't understand that myself. Ron?"

He merely shook his head. All of them were clueless.

"Well… I suppose we can look into that later."

Everyone kept silent for some time.

"So I guess this is it, huh?" Jen pondered. "It's really over."

"Yeah." Kim answered. "Val's no longer a threat and was taken in by the authorities. Took them long enough, but they got him."

Ron noticed something different with Jen. "You… look kinda depressed."

Jen crossed her arms. "I guess. I just… I don't know. This was my first trip around the world and I have to say, it was a blast working with you guys. I know there were some hard times, but in the end, this was one heck of an adventure. I'll never forget it. It's just hard to believe it's over."

Ron was almost tempted to hug the girl and assure all was well. She sounded like she was going to cry, but Jen sucked it up. Instead, Kim made a welcome offer.

"Why not join us?"

"Join you?"

"Well, let me put it this way," Kim warmly elaborated, "We really don't have any solid allies. Sometimes we get help from someone other than favors on our missions, and we never see that person ever again. I have to admit, I was skeptical about the whole team thing at first, but with all the help you - and admittedly Yori - had to offer, maybe it would be good to expand the whole save the world thing. I've got enough favors for them to pick you up and meet wherever we are. Honestly, I don't know if we could've pulled this off without your help. We could really use your help later on."

Looking into Ron's eyes, he seemed to agree. There was a long moment of silence as the warm glow from the sunrise lit up the city, the light reflecting through every window of every building, painting the area in magnificent light rays.

"That's so nice of you, Kim." Jen then lifted her head up with a confident smile. "But I can't. My place is here, my home. I still have my own family and some of my own friends here. This is where I'm needed. But… next time you're around, just whistle. Maybe we can take on some goons again, or maybe we could just hang out. There are so many places I wish I could take you to, but you're both probably homesick."

"We are." Kim expected Ron to say the same thing, but he just nodded instead. He was getting better in anticipating Kim's jinx attacks.

"You don't have to worry about the city. I can handle it."

"With the help of your gear head, of course." Ron smirked.

Jen's face lit up with this comment. "'Of course' indeed."

Kim's face went to limbo. "So… you're serious about him? I mean-"

Jen crossed her arms. "Oh, c'mon, Kim. He told me that you turned red once you laid eyes on him for the first time."

"But tha-"

"That's nothing. He's really not that bad. He might be a huge dork and a geek, but he's cute and not afraid to be who he is."

"And that's what matters, huh?" Ron asked.

"It works for me. I know he's shy about it now, but he'll come around. I hope."

"I'm sure he will." Ron assured her.

"Thanks." There was a moment of silence before something else came to mind. "So you guys are heading back to Middleton already?"

"Probably," Kim answered. "Besides, we don't have a place to stay here. I so wish I could stay just to get some sleep. I am in so need of a long nap."

Jen shook her head. "Oh, I can make accommodations for that."

"You can do that?"

Jen scoffed. "Duh, Kim. My last name is Ferno for a reason. Daddy and I already got you both covered in the same room you stayed in before. You need it. Just ask the newbie at the front desk and she'll give you the keys to your same room, or a new one if you need it. It really doesn't matter."

Kim put a hand on one of Jen's shoulders. "Thanks. I really appreciate it."

Shortly afterward, both girls were gasping for breath when Ron squeezed them with a bear hug. "I don't want this to end! I like it here!" After he let them go, he shed a tear from his eye. "I don't want to leave Bueno Nacho… but it's in good hands!" he sobbed.

Jen chuckled. "It's okay, Ron. Trust me, daddy knows what he's doing. And if you have a problem with it, his door's open for you. You can drop by anytime. Just call and we'll have plane tickets ready."

"I'll hold you to that."

Just then, everyone could hear the sound of electric sparks on the edge of the roof, spurting out the image of a human. Once the stealth camo wore off, another colleague was revealed.

"Hey Nev." Ron calmly welcomed.

"Hey you guys." Nev smiled. "Glad to see you're all okay."

"No big," Kim modestly spoke as she always did. "I'm just glad it's over."

"I hope so. You guys have been through a lot… I should've known that Val was behind it…" he spoke with a hint of remorse.

"Well, we missed it as well," Kim admitted. "But we'll get some answers once the police interrogations are done with, Val gets sentenced and the rest."

"I wouldn't be too sure on that," Nev said with skepticism. "If you consider how long it took for them to get here, I mean. But considering everything involved from the Hind blast, the Harpuia and the fight going public, and those commandos, I don't think it'll be an overnight job. The paperwork for just homicide takes weeks. Imagine what will happen here."

Everyone sighed. He might have had a point.

"So I guess this is goodbye, huh?" he asked.

Ron sighed. "I guess so. I don't suppose you'd move back to Lowerton anytime soon, would you?"

Nev shook his head. "Sorry compadre, but this is my new home. Besides, the old place was already raided, and here I've got so much more. As beautiful as Lowerton was, it's nothing more than a painful reminder of a terrible past. Here, I can move on. I have some people here to thank for that."

No surprise Jen turned red.

Kim had a sad look on her face. "You think we'll be seeing you again? You've also been a great help with the hardware and weapons, and I know you've gotten Wade jealous a few times that you knew more than he did on a few things."

Nev smiled. "Well, he's better than I am at getting new information, while I'm pretty handy when it comes to stuff I already know, but then I haven't been completely accurate with everything. We have our own areas we're experts at, but I promise I'll keep in touch. If Wade suffers from a spike again or has trouble finding out something, give me a call."

"You heard when he got spiked?"

"Of course. That's how we first met. He was able to get on the hacker's board that same night, saying that he was spiked by TI. I was the only one who could help him recover all his data. Well, not even that. It turns out that all they did was blow a fuse, but nothing on his hard drives was lost. He wanted to know how he could repay me, and I wasn't sure how much he knew with constructing battle suits with thick but silky armor, but he knew more about it than anyone else I knew. It wasn't long before we became colleagues. A few weeks later, you two arrived at my place and the rest is history."

Kim stretched. "Heh, I should've known."

"He's probably hard at work at building new equipment for you both, since Val took them apart. Have him call me if he needs anymore hardware."

"So you heard?"

"I had a transmitter on Jen relaying all audio just in case a video jamming signal came to play. Unfortunately, it was one way."

Jen's eyes widened. "You did what? Where is it?"

Kim and Ron giggled as Jen frantically went looking for the object Nev mentioned.

"It's where your belly button is," he sheepishly confessed.

"Nev, you are such a dork!" Jen playfully cried.

"Only the very king himself," he gloated. "But yeah, I heard everything from Val's rant to the fight on the Judgment. Unbelievable, and here I thought I knew the guy."

"You didn't happen to find anything out, did you? I mean, about his past, The Bosses, the nukes, anything else?"

Nev sighed as he shook his head. "Apparently not. I had no idea about his other girl or these 'Bosses'. I don't even know what the commandos were about, but I'm confident they're not GJ. However, I was able to intercept those cyphers right after they left, but the data in them revealed nothing other than the footage of the final duel. I can make copies if you want."

"Maybe…" Kim quickly responded with her mind elsewhere. "What about the nukes?"

"Wade and I are actually pretty sure they're in France, but they keep telling us they haven't found jack. If Val said there was no threat and the one Elurt had was a fake, maybe he didn't steal it after all. But then again, we got surveillance pictures of where they were supposed to be at, and they're not there. So I don't know."

Jen broke in. "I guess Val's the only one who does. So where's he at now?"

Ron answered. "Police took him away. I wasn't able to get much out of him at all."

Everyone knew at least one detail Ron was hiding, but kept silent about it. They could only hope Wade or Nev was able to gain control of a satellite to record the very moment when Kim would see that ring case again, and what was inside of it.

Something did come to Ron's mind, though, oblivious to everyone else's thoughts. "What happened to Yori, anyway? She's the reason KP, me and Val are still alive."

Jen took her attention upward and cleared her throat. "You can come out now."

Right there and then, Yori appeared out of virtually nowhere, standing in the middle of the roof and separating the two 'teams'. Her face was anything but happy.

"I found her shortly after landing the Harp. Anything you want to say?" Jen asked as she crossed her arms.

Yori let out an exasperated sigh. "Again, I apologize. I should not even be here."

Kim and Jen kept a skeptical look on their lips, but Ron put a hand on Yori's shoulder. "Yori, you're being too hard on yourself. I never even got to thank you for saving my butt from those commandos."

Yori kept quiet. Kim, Jen and Nev chose to do the same. This was a conversation between just the two trained ninjas.

"Look, we all know you didn't do the right thing, especially with your motives, but obviously mistakes were made. Everyone's here made a mistake, and not just at one moment of their lives."

Ron became focused on everyone else.

Kim sighed. "Centurion Project, thinking Ron wasn't BF material, going in some areas alone, fighting him in Thailand…"

Jen crossed her arms behind her head. "That night on the roof where I tried to kill you, eating Kim's food in Nev's lab, leaving Ron to handle the fake nuke, no offense, walking in Elurt's room without closer inspection…"

Nev let out an embarrassing whistle. "Putting some kind of experimental protocol in Kim's battle suit, putting a baked potato in the microwave when you forget to take off the foil, making a stealth jet immune to accel/ decel heat-seeking stinger missiles, buying a VCR-DVD-combo and expect the VCR to work perfectly…"

Ron focused on himself. "And me? Giving soon-to-be villains ideas, going after some bad guys alone and being kidnapped, provoking henchmen who can kick my can, the thought of dating Shego out a long time back, seeing if Rufus could fix the computer while it was on, shoving a Bueno Nacho Burrito in my mouth right out of the oven, shoving five packs of Diablo sauce in my mouth the first time I tried it, giving Kim a wet willie when she was sleeping, among other pranks, and there was also this one time…"

Yori cut him off. "I get the idea. However, I have not done anything I have later regretted… until now."

"Don't drown yourself in regrets, learn from them. They only make you weaker, you know."

"But that does not change anything. It is my fault all of this happened."

"No it's not. You really didn't remember that Val was behind all of this when you first got involved, did you?"

"No, I did not. I only remembered when I ran like a coward and encountered him."

Ron could tell she was being truthful. "The fact of the matter is, you still helped us. We might not have been able to take down that Fefnir thing if you hadn't been there. And that cave in Tibet…"

"You… knew?"

"That Sensei could also create stuff like that out of his mind to protect us? I kinda figured that part out later on, but his bond with you is stronger. Without you we all would've froze more."

Yori still looked upset at herself. Everyone else appeared surprised at the conclusion Ron came to about the cave.

"I'm sorry. Ryan-kun was right. I manipulated myself from the very beginning, and it was my selfishness that put you all in so much danger."

Ron was about to open his mouth, but Yori didn't allow him to.

"You see… Ron-san… He was right. Now that I remember, I did participate in hopes to see you again, and seeing you with Kim… it was not that I felt jealous, but it made me realize that I fell for somebody I knew so little about. I told myself that I knew so much about you, and your bravery and perseverance was incredible. I should not have fallen for someone too fast for my own good, and I did. I was lonely up on Yamanuchi. You were the only boy there who talked to me like a normal person…"

Ron interrupted. "That's where your past comes in, right?"

Yori nodded. "When I was around eight years old, I was able to foresee the death of my parents. My father would jump off of a building after losing his job, and my mother would have been involved in a bus accident. I tried to do whatever I could to prevent it, but my interference only resulted in such things to happen. I was orphaned then, and I chose to travel around Japan to find a new life. That's when I stumbled across the school and met Sensei. He took me in and treated me with full respect. Word had gotten around why I was there, and as one of three female students, no one would dare talk to me. They thought I was death in the human form, and that was another reason why many people respected you when you left. You were not afraid to talk to me and treat me as a human. I suppose I got so lonely I became desperate for someone to care for me, and it wasn't long after our second meeting, in which Kim helped, that I realized you liked me as well. But time passed and I graduated from the school, helped a student in need, and shortly afterward, this had all began. Everything Ryan-kun mentioned about me was absolutely correct. I was a fool."

"Yori, you're being too hard on yourself again."

"It would not have worked between us, anyway," she continued. "Our lives are too different. For me, I belong with nature in a world without technology, and you thrive in it. As much as I have tried, I could never learn to appreciate it, but only to fear it. I know such things as nanotechnology, biotechnology and mind manipulation devices are not normal, but I fear in the future they will. I thought that if we lived deep in the woods, we could live in a world without such creations and appreciate the world around us, but I should have known better that you would miss your video games, cable television and more. I could not live in an urban setting even if I tried. This city for example is just too much for me, reminding me of Tokyo. Even with that said, I wanted to learn of the American culture, but I still know nothing of it to this day. And after seeing the way Kim had caressed you so many times on this journey, I knew _that_ was real love. It is not American-style love, but what you call 'the real deal'. I could not compare, and to think I could was foolish. So, perhaps it is best that I take my departure here and not further interfere with your lives."

"You're going to go on a soul search, aren't you?" Ron guessed.

"Yes. Perhaps this time, I will travel the world and explore new places and actually learn about their cultures and traditions. I know only so little of the actual Earth itself, knowing only Tokyo and the school. Every other place is like another world. Most of my life has been spent in the school that I was more focused on my training than who I really was. Anybody can fall in love and fight, but to be aware of who you are and why you are that person, I could not understand. I never thought about who I was and why I did the things I did, and now that I think about it, I do not know. Everything Ryan-kun said about Kim about being insecure and weak, it fit me more than it ever does her. I know of what I am, but not who I am. All my life I have known myself to be just a student at Yamanuchi, and as honorable it was to be taught under Sensei's wisdom, now that I've met you, I wish to be more. I know what I did was wrong, and I will not blame any of you if you choose not to forgive me, but I wish to learn from my mistakes in order never to repeat them. I do not care how long it takes; I will find the path to my being. I know most ninja graduates choose not to live for their mistakes, but…"

"Oh, please. None of us are going to kill you."

Yori looked around and saw no hatred. In Ron's eyes, she saw forgiveness. In Nev's eyes, she saw pity. In Jen's eyes, she saw hope. In Kim's, she saw skepticism. There was a moment of silence between everyone.

"Thank you. I am not worthy."

"Yori, less self-loathing and more moving on."

Yori mentally hit herself. "Very well, but I will do so immediately. I was trained not to feel, but it appears around people I suffer such. If this is how I am as a person, then I know I must take matters into my own hands and do what is necessary for myself. We may not meet again."

Ron tried to keep a firm face, but he didn't look happy about this decision. "I won't change your mind on what needs to be done, but if this is it, it was really nice knowing you, Yori. Thanks for everything."

"I should be the one saying that. It was an honor to meet you, learn about you and fight alongside you, but it is perhaps time we departed and went our separate ways. I will never forget your bravery or wisdom. Oh, and Kim? Please take care of him."

Kim acknowledged by nodding as well.

Yori sighed. "Goodbye, Sto… Ron-san."

She was tempted to hug him, but held back. She chose only to bow before Ron, and he returned it. She slowly took a few steps back before she leapt into the air and vanished. There was no telling if Ron would see the Japanese ninja girl ever again. The only trace she left were leaves that covered her departure.

Ron sighed. "Poor girl, having no idea who she really was all these years." As much as he knew of Yori's strengths and weaknesses, she was still a friend. To him, she made up for everything by saving his butt on the roof.

Kim could only pity her in thought. She didn't particularly like people who suffered from low self-esteem, and Yori was no exception. But she did hope that Yori would find her way, and was grateful for her help in the whole thing. Instead of saying anything, she walked up to Ron and put her hand in his. One thing she admired about him was his ability to forgive people the way he did.

Jen sighed. "I feel sorry for her myself, but at least she's choosing to make a difference for herself. It's too bad, really. I enjoyed talking to her about the ninja life." She too wasn't a fan of people who never thought highly of themselves, but she grew to respect Yori on the trip, but it was the fact that she was a ninja more than anything. It wasn't anything new to her that ninjas weren't perfect.

Nev crossed his arms. "Well, maybe the next time she falls in love, she'll take her time with it. Falling in love in someone and wanting to date them in less than a week usually leads to trouble." He on the other hand met too many self-loathing girls in his life, but never formed a solid opinion on them.

Jen stretched her arms. "Maybe we should make our leave as well."

Nev agreed. "Perhaps we should."

They all sighed.

"Well, you two take care of yourselves." Kim said.

Nev pointed two fingers at her. "You too. Like I said, I'll keep in touch."

"Me too." Jen added.

Both exchanged a friendly look with Kim and Ron, then turned around and slowly walked away.

"Hey! Wait!" Ron cried.

Both turned around.

"I knew I had to ask you something and now I remember it. There's one thing I gotta know before you guys leave!"

Nev shrugged. "Well, go ahead. Shoot."

Ron scratched the back of his head. "Um… when I first got here, everyone knew who I was, but had no idea who KP was. What was up with that?"

Jen giggled. "You don't know?"

"I have no idea!"

"You saved Bueno Nacho from Drakken. Duh. At least, that's what the footage on the news showed: The man responsible for the travesty and the one who took him down. No one saw Kim own Shego, but they all saw you and Drakken, the whole 'Say my name!' thing. For someone not many people were familiar with, that was just too cool for a first impression."

Ron slapped his forehead. "I should've known."

Kim giggled as she clung onto him like a magnet. "That's my hero."

Both Nev and Jen smiled at the sight.

"Well, we'll leave you two lovebirds alone for now, but we'll be around. We'll meet again. I'm sure of it." After mentioning that, Nev flung his fingers at them in a 'see ya' gesture.

Once they both were on the edge, Jen grabbed onto him and leapt off the building. Unknownst to them, Kim and Ron ran to witness their departure. They could see that both landed on the ground safely, although Nev took a harder landing and some time regaining himself. After so, both were walking toward his bike as they shared some dialogue.

"_Man, I'm going to miss those two."_ Nev started.

"_I know, but they'll be okay. Hey, I know what'll get our minds off of it!"_

"_Food…?"_

"_Of course! C'mon, Nev, take me out to eat, pweeeaaase?"_

"_Act your age, Jen, please!"_

Ron and Kim were shocked to find out that she had her own version of Kim's puppy dog pout – big kitty cat eyes.

"_No! Stop it! Keep that up and I'll leave you here all alone!"_ Nev frantically yelled as he tried to run to his bike.

Jen gave into chase as she kept staring at him with the same face.

It was too much for him. _"Okay, okay! Fine, you win."_

She quickly snapped out of it. _"Woohoo! I know just the place!"_

"_If you say Waffles I'll…"_

"_Waffles!"_

Nev muttered to himself as he started his bike with Jen right behind him. _"You soooooo suck."_

Jen just giggled to herself as they drove away. Kim and Ron couldn't help but giggle, but just as Nev's bike disappeared into the city, they both noticed more police cars were racing to the Tower. Both didn't need to say a word to know what the other was thinking, giving each other a brief nod. They decided they were going to see what was up.

Once getting there by leaping from building to building, they were amazed to see people on the scene. A lot of SWAT members in gas masks had already quarantined the entire place, a lot of people were frantically demanding answers as to what happened but police were forced to keep them away. One of the thoughts that entered Kim's mind were the twelve teenage commandos that attacked Val at first. They probably escaped the second they regained consciousness, but she couldn't tell, trying to put her eyes on the 50th floor where that fight took place. The morning mist didn't allow her to see it. Other than that, it looked like the situation was back to normal for the most part. There were a few helicopters where the Hind crashed with what was left of Elurt. More than likely there would be nothing left of him.

Her thoughts were distracted by a hand she was all too familiar with. Ron's.

"Kim, it's over."

"Yeah, I guess so…"

Ron was able to detect something in Kim's voice. "What's wrong?"

"Well… I was glad about it first, but… it's nothing."

"No, c'mon."

"Honest moment, Ron: I can't put it into words."

"You still want to go on fighting?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm expecting more out of this, and it's not there. Something's missing. I just don't know if it's good or bad."

"Probably not anything a little _more_ Ronshine can't solve."

Kim giggled as she wrapped her arms around him. "Maybe that's it."

Both sighed in exhaustion.

"We should go rest. This whole thing's over."

"_Oh, I beg to differ."_

Kim and Ron instantly went wide-eyed as they recognized the voice. They quickly set their eyes on the source of it, seeing Val being assisted to a police truck.

"Wait. Stop." Kim told the police officer holding him. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah, dude." Ron followed. "I don't know what you were really after, but you're through. It's over."

Val chuckled. "Is that what you think? Oh brother. I thought I left enough clues…"

"Val, get to the point already."

"The point? I wasn't the one behind _any_ of this!"

"WHAT?" Kim asked. "Okay, I am _so_ not buying it. If you're not behind it, then who is?"

Before Val could answer, the police officer slammed his nightstick into his neck. "That's enough out of you!"

Kim and Ron quickly noticed Val wasn't saying anything to begin with. But the blow wasn't enough to send Val completely out of it.

Weakly, he spit out some last words, or numbers, rather.

"45574."

This was quick to confuse Kim and Ron, more so due to the fact that Kim's Kimmunicator started to vibrate intensely, reacting from Val's words. Once the two laid their eyes back on him, he was already being thrown into the truck. It was a good thing he wasn't a transport box with the word 'Fragile' on him. Yet, his expression was calm and cool, and he even waved to Kim as the police closed the doors.

"Come and visit me sometime!"

With that, the doors shut and the truck drove off. Ron was totally baffled.

"Yeah…" Kim thought out loud. "I think I will…"

Ron sighed. "Well, there goes the usual explanation of everything."

"Ron, are you _sure_ he didn't say anything before he passed out the first time?"

He slapped his forehead. "Oh, yeah, he did! I asked him about what was really going on, but he said he couldn't because of the commandos. He actually looked like he wanted to spill the details."

"Hmm… Sounds like he wanted a private conversation. Ron, you don't think the whole conspiracy theory about The Bosses is true, do you?"

"Not sure, but some things were just too screwy. GJ commandos that aren't GJ commandos, police that never got here until _after_ everything was over… wait. One of the commandos was taking orders from somebody else. An elderly woman."

"A name?"

"No…"

Kim sighed in disappointment. Again she had no answers for so many questions. Right at the end of that thought, her Kimmunicator went off. She quickly answered it.

"What up, Wade?"

"_It looks like you managed to defeat Val hand-to-hand. That's incredible. How did you do it?"_

"Just had to do what I had to do. I really don't know how I did it. I just fought with everything I had, but I chose not to fight him as an enemy or out of a grudge."

"_How were you able to accomplish that?"_

"I really don't know. It just entered my mind, and the whole fight was almost completely in slow motion. I'm really not sure I won the fight to be honest…"

"Because you both collapsed at the same time?" Ron remembered.

"Yeah."

"_But _you_ delivered the final blow that finished the fight, Kim. So I'd say you were the winner, unless he went easy on you."_

"I have no doubt that he went full throttle with the look in his eyes. My jaw still hurts."

"_But you still beat him."_

Kim sighed. "What for? Now that I know there wasn't a nuclear threat in the first place, and now that he said he wasn't behind it, the fight was nothing more than just another win…"

Ron had a hard time believing it. "That doesn't sound like you at all, KP."

"I know. I told myself that I wanted to fight him at first just to end this, but I don't feel like I really gained anything this time."

"You're wrong, Kim."

Kim was surprised to hear these words out from Ron.

"This wasn't simply just a fight to destroy your opponent, to win or lose. There was something more involved. Before you just did what you had to do to get someone out of the way. I gotta admit sometimes in your fights with the Ice Shadows, I thought that sparring with you was a bad idea because of the way you went overboard at times. Just that creepy smile when you won, scary. But when you fought Val, you were completely cool. You might tell yourself that you fought to win, but I saw something different in you as you fought. I hadn't seen you fight with that level of cool since before we started dating. And often, you just used CQC and survival techniques, with a bit of theatrics, but this time you fought with everything you knew. I hope it's not the last time I see you dominate like that."

"Maybe it hasn't hit me yet… Maybe you're right."

"Only you know what you felt, KP, but I know what I saw."

Silence filled the rooftop. Maybe that's what she felt, but she didn't get the rise that Val did from it. Ron saw it as denial.

Kim was quick to change the subject. "Let's focus on the real problems. I wish I could have just gotten something out of him… but so much of this doesn't make sense. There's no threat but the nukes are missing, I don't know if he had another motive for broadcasting our fight on live TV, and especially what those commandos were for and why the police weren't around."

"_I'm already on it, Kim."_ Wade replied.

"Find anything?"

"_Not yet, but don't concern yourself over it. Just leave it to me. I'll drop a line if I find out anything new, and you'll be the first to know."_

"As always." Kim smiled.

"_So what are you two going to do now? And don't mention police reports or interviews. I've already gotten that covered as well."_

"Spankin'. I wouldn't mind going home, but I think I'm going to take up Jen's offer and head back to that hotel Ron and I stayed in. I so need the rest, and probably a desperate shower. If my parents call, tell them Ron and I are fine."

"_Already relayed the message. They called right when the broadcasting signal from the cyphers were taken offline."_

"You rock, Wade, but I just have another favor to ask."

"_Your equipment?"_

"Yeah. Sorry you have to do it all over again…"

"_I heard. But I guess it's time I finally upgraded everything. If Val took them all apart, there's no telling who else will in the near future. I'll get on it once I'm done with all the paperwork is done…"_ The sound of a printer turning off could be heard. _"And that's that. Go back to the hotel, Kim. Rest. You've earned it."_

"Wade, you're the best. You should get some rest, too. I'm sure you've been up all morning."

"_Just about all of us. Nev, Jen, Yori, your friends and families here in Middleton. We'll be awaiting your return. Take it easy until then."_

Communications ceased.

A positive look on Kim's face turned into a cynical one. "But there's still no telling when we'll find out what Val meant by everything, even after everything's said and done."

Before Ron could say anything to counter this, he noticed a smile crept its way onto her face again.

Kim seemed to be lost in thought. "Everything's going to be okay. I already have a plan."

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"I'll explain it later. But right now…" she let out a huge yawn. "I need my hours of sleep back."

Ron chuckled. "Hotel service, here we come!"

Because their presence wasn't needed at the Tower anymore, they both walked through the streets of town and back toward the hotel. On the way, however, Ron decided to wrap his arm around Kim, aimed at her lower back. But after tripping on a sidewalk tile crack, it went a little lower. Kim's whole body went straight, oblivious to Ron's own clumsiness.

"Ron! Did you just grab my butt?"

He went frantic. "I tripped! I didn't mean to, I swear! It was leverage, Kim! LEVERAGE!"

An angry look on Kim's face quickly went into a sly smile. "Oh… too bad…"

If the sudden seductive look on Kim's eyes and lips already scared Ron, what came out of her mouth did much more than that.

"Do it again."

Ron almost fell onto his face with this. "Kim!"

She burst out into laughter. "Oh, Ron, I'm only kidding!" She even went on to grab his cheek. "You are so cute when you're shy!"

Ron couldn't believe what was going on here, and Kim was able to easily read the confusion on his face.

"See? This is why I need sleep!" she excused as she let out a loud yawn.

He didn't know whether or not to believe her, but he got an idea, abruptly grabbing Kim and held her over his back.

It caught Kim by surprise. "Ron! What are you doing?"

"Just go to sleep now, and I'll carry you to the hotel!" he answered.

Kim tried to escape his grip, but with no success. "Ron! Let me go! I was only joking!"

"Yeah, and you're freaking me out!"

"Ron, I mean it! Put me down!"

She started yelling hysterically when Ron started to run.

"Ron!"

"I can't hear you, KP."

"Put me down or else!"

"Not hearing anything!"

"Ron! I'm not kid… kidd… kiddin…k-!"

Kim couldn't help it, bursting out into laughter as Ron ran faster through the streets toward their destination.

"ROOOOOOON! PUUUT! MEEEEEE! DOOOOOOOOOOWN!"

* * *

It was going to be a long day back in the hotel room. The two quickly engaged in mucho snuggling, kissing, snuggling, flirting, snuggling, pillow fights, kissing, and some TV, then some kissing. Did I mention snuggling and kissing? 

Never realizing how messed up she looked, Kim almost screamed when she went to do her makeup in the bathroom. She couldn't believe how Ron could still love a woman with this look, but even with that thought, she decided to take a shower. She was hoping to come out and see Ron's jaw drop again, falling in love with that reaction since the moodulator date. But the second she came out of the bathroom, he rushed in needing to take care of some business. He also took a shower while he was at it.

Even though some couples would grow tired of tender moments, Kim always loved it, and Ron had the energy to keep at it for some time. She didn't know whether it was the way he held her, his tender lips, how safe she felt in his arms, or that she melted like chocolate just by being close. But she couldn't get enough of it, and she instantly felt it the night of the Prom. Ron's kisses never got dull or boring, and he always held her in a way that she never grew tired of. To her, she didn't hit the top of the food chain, she hit the jackpot. Now that her thoughts were on the engagement ring, she could only wonder what other things Ron had to deliver.

But before her thoughts could continue, he came out of the shower. For a moment, she felt disappointed. Ron actually looked cooler with his beaten-and-dirty-war-hero look. But it wore off quickly once he crashed into bed and she rubbed her cheek against his.

For a moment, it looked like things were about to get a little bit too tender. Ron had reached for the strap on Kim's shoulder, and she had her hand on his belt. They didn't let the feeling show in their faces, as their eyes were closing. It looked like the moment people either embrace or fear.

Instead, their eyes completely closed and loud snoring from both filled the room. They wouldn't wake up until long after the sun had gone down that day.


	25. 24: Interrogation

**Chapter 24: Interrogation**

_Warp back to chapter 23 if you haven't read it._

_Obvious Metal Gear reference included… again. This chapter will explain everything that happened in this story, and I've checked repeatedly to make sure I didn't skip anything important. Nothing but a one-on-one convo._

_

* * *

_

A week passes.

A lot has gone on since what many called Val's actions the terrorist threat of Bay City. In the media, he was quickly demonized as a terrorist and the worst of all criminals, by politicians, comedians, celebrities, news commentators, radio talk show hosts, from America to international. Judges and juries were quick to give him instant life sentences, especially since his lawyer couldn't deliver a believable story. It was much different than the one Kim and Ron were familiar with. But before being sent to a high security prison, in preparation for such, he was sent to a new prison located on a remote island dead-center in the pacific. If he managed to escape, he would have to swim through thousands of miles to some kind of shore. Its existence was kept from the public, but records would show two previous residents, although they were no longer there.

A dark figure walks through the hallways, being assisted by a guard. The place looks anything but new. The brick walls look old and fragile, probably from over a century ago, allowing for water to leak in through the floors. The lights flicker endlessly, much more than strobe lights at times. Whoever he or she was, they were heading to the only cell in the place. Everything else was a maze.

"We're here, ma'am."

Val's cell: It looks just like everything else in the building, with two wooden benches supported by chains on the sides, a small window and a drainage hole. The prisoner inside was told that he was going to be sent elsewhere in time, but he refused to believe it. With the stench of the drainage hole, he knew death would come for him. He had spent three days there, but even the guards were surprised that he made no attempt to escape, and actually threw out the food the guards served him. It wasn't like it was good food, either – usually road kill or dead animals found outside, and most often, inside. No one knew how, but he managed to sneak in five gallons worth of apple juice. Unfortunately for the guards, they had access to open the cell, but not the proper access to enter.

As the figure waited for the guard to find the keys, they noticed that Val was performing sit-ups as he was hanging from a pipe near the ceiling. He also appeared to be relaxed and calm, but it might have been because he lost track of time. No matter the weather outside, the room was always dark, illuminated by flickering lights from the halls.

"Ryan! You've got a visitor!"

Val only scoffed. "It's finally time, I guess."

The guard looked at the visitor's authorization before he allows her to enter the cell. He leaves. Once the doors closed, Val thought he recognized the figure.

"Well, it looks like you're here. Just finish me off real quick, would you?"

The visitor didn't respond, and this was quick to grab his attention. He couldn't see the details of the visitor, only that they wore a hat and a coat. Once she approached further, the small light in the room revealed her. Val instantly jumped off and got onto his feet.

"Kim?" he asked astounded, only to regain his cool immediately afterward. "Quite a surprise. I suppose you did get the message after all."

She quietly walked toward the bench on the opposite side and took a seat. Compared to the rest of the room, the benches were clean. She removed her hat and loosened her coat. Under it, Val could see a fake FBI badge. Kim had to disguise herself.

"Were you expecting company?" she asked.

They didn't even put him in proper prison garb. Not only did he grow out his hair and shaved, but he was wearing the exact same thing as the final battle; pants and no shirt. Kim was already freezing, but Val didn't appear to be affected by the cold whatsoever.

"Just death's embrace," he calmly answered.

He noticed that Kim was looking at his metal arm, now with a new hand on it.

"Just so you know…" Val noticed. "I made a lot of these just in case."

Kim didn't seem to be paying attention to his words, her mind somewhere else in the room.

"What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Your voice. I've never heard you talk this way. You sound… normal."

Indeed, Val was speaking in his original tone. There was no deepness in it as long before, and there was no intense energy and rage as a few weeks ago. He sounded casual, almost like he was ready to enjoy a pleasant conversation with a friend he hadn't seen in ages. It really wasn't too far from the truth. Since this was the first time Kim visited one of her enemies' prison cells, she wondered how everyone else she put away. It was arguable whether his voice was calm because of the serene feeling of defeat, or for no reason at all.

"Is there something wrong with that? We're all human in here, Kim. I know what appearances I've given off before, but I have more than one side, too."

"Apparently…" Kim mused. "But that's not the only change, other than your facial hair and normal hair."

Kim still couldn't get over the fact that Val's eyes changed from brown to blue. She was used to people's skin colors changing when they became bad, but eyes? Val knew where this was going.

"Contacts. Just so I could be Valia Ryan and not Valve Dive. It was good as a disguise, since it also affected the results of a retinal scan. Thankfully, these things never go to the back of your eyes. Once I got my memory back, they were of no use."

He couldn't tell whether Kim was more freaked out about the technology or that his eyes grew similar in appearance to hers. Just a slight hue change.

Val cracked his neck before he continued. "So… what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Come on, you said it yourself. You said you weren't really behind any of this. I want answers… Please."

Val had a smug look all over his face. "I thought you didn't trust those you fought."

Kim was quick to snap back. "Listen, we haven't been able to find out anything, all right? I want to do this the easy way, but I won't hesitate to do this the hard way."

Val chuckled. "I've been through torture before, and you don't have the heart or equipment to do anything of the sort. But considering everything that's been going on in the last couple of weeks, I'll tell you everything I know. You've earned it."

Kim came here thinking that she had to force the answers out of him, even though she was hardly in the mood to fight him again. Both were still recovering from their injuries from their final duel.

"Uh, okay. Val… I don't want any more of these half-truth, half-lie things. I want the entire truth of everything."

"Very well. But for this, I will require your Kimmunicator. I hope you have it on you."

Kim quickly went skeptical. "I always do, but why?"

"I'll only need it for a few seconds."

Of course, he wouldn't speak otherwise, so Kim tossed it to him. He caught it easily and didn't even assess to it for a second before he found a peculiar port and shoved the device straight into his biomechanical arm. He started twitching violently shortly afterward, letting out a few painful grunts. Kim could see that he was being electrocuted, but it was all over before she could do anything. He was breathing pretty heavily, but was far from unconscious. He quickly tossed the Kimmunicator back to her.

"That'll take care of the nanomachines."

Kim had no idea what just happened. "What did you just do?"

"I electrocuted myself to fry the nanomachines in my bloodstream. That's the reason I said that number codename: 45574. It's a good thing Wade programmed that to obey DVCs, Desperate Vocal Commands. DVCs are designed for emergencies should you catch a disease or any other danger that involves skin or metal penetration. What the command 45574 did was activate a program to completely fry the nanos in my body, and why. Now that that's out of the way, I can tell you everything."

"What are you talking about?"

Val chuckled. "Isn't it obvious? Don't you know why I didn't give you names at the Tower? I was injected with nanomachines as part of this whole operation, and if I said names or blew my cover, we'd all be blown to hell."

"Val, I said I wanted the truth, not a long story."

"You want the truth? Here it is: I was _used_, Kim. Used against my own will to do any and all of this."

Kim almost fell off the bench she was on. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, no no no nO NO NO! I am so not buying that!"

Considering everything that went on in the Tower, Kim was not so easily convinced.

A sour look quickly filled Val's face. "Girl, shut up, you'll catch the guard's attention and blow your cover."

"Oh, right. Sorry…" she sheepishly apologized. Kim didn't even realize the words that came out of her mouth, and out of embarrassment she quietly cleared her throat. "Used?"

"Completely… Well, no… that's not entirely accurate."

"Before you confuse me, just tell me who did it."

"The Bosses themselves."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Okay, the whole big name thing is fine and all, but I need names."

"Now that these nanos are fried, they have no way of detecting the words that are coming out of my mouth: Senator Kathryn Eleanor Brown and Judge Edward Shea Silvia."

Kim was very well familiar with these names. "No way, that can't…" She groaned. "Why am I not surprised…?"

"So you've heard of their treachery?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it that way, but Brown's always been known to lead protests against just about everything and Silvia… Well, I don't know about him, but I don't think he's a concern anymore."

Val narrowed his eyes in curiosity. "Why's that?"

"Pacemaker failed on him two days ago. Dead."

Val's eyes widened. "What was your source?"

"Everything. Web sites, every news channel, radio."

Val look relieved. "So he's really dead. Good riddance…"

"The way he talked on TV, I thought he would've died some other way."

"The old man usually went on the podium to bitch at everything while he was completely intoxicated. On new laws and ideas, you couldn't get him to approve of anything no matter what side you were on. And yet he went easy on those who committed the worst of crimes. Child molester who has eight victims, twenty years; pretty much two years for every victim. Same person comes back and kills a helpless seven year old. So far the paperwork is still being done before the asshole goes back in prison. Well, that's one down. But that still doesn't do anything. Brown's still alive and that's a hell of a lot more important than Silvia being dead."

"Why's that?"

"Because Brown was behind all of this. Silvia's involvement was minimal."

"Why? If that's the truth, then what did she really want out of all of this?"

"Four nuclear warheads, all five Judgments: Harpuia, Fafnir, Leviathan, Eligos, and Lucifer, an army of mass-produced biomechanical artificial humans, and last, but most important, your corpse."

"So I wouldn't interfere…"

"But I couldn't simply kill you. I had to do whatever I had to in order to destroy your reputation among the people and yourself. You couldn't die being the well-revered teen hero you are. I had to do whatever I could to break you down and tear you apart."

"Not buying it. Everything you said at the tower… just those words driving into my mind…"

Val crossed his arms and chuckled. "That was quite a show, wasn't it? I'd hate to break it to you, but that was all part of the act, all from beginning to end. I performed quite well, I must say. I had to convince you and the world that I was the real enemy."

"Or what? If you said any names, tried to tell me that you were being used you'd blow up everyone within a ten mile radius?"

"Eleven point five to be exact."

"Look Val, I don't care wha- What did you just say?"

"Had I blown my cover as an assassin to take you down, if I mentioned any names or actually helped you on this journey, the nanomachines in my blood would have triggered a massive explosion. Not only were explosive devices somehow implanted in them, but they were also able to find a way for it to be amplified by my blood-alcohol level. I would've killed hundreds, thousands even. I didn't want for it to come to that. I hope you're ready for a long one."

"I can stay here as long as I please. I'd rather not because of the scenery."

"I'm assuming I'm the first person you've put away that you've visited? You're so thoughtful."

"Well, yeah."

Val cracked his knuckles and laid comfortably on his bench, legs and arms crossed. "I don't need to tell you what happened with Sensei again. That part was completely true. Same with getting my memory back and everything."

"So everything came back then?"

"Quite, but it took me a while to get over it. I know I didn't say anything at all with you two around in the dome, but it was difficult to comprehend. You think you're an ordinary teenager and yet you gain memories of a previous life. I wasn't sure whether or not I was reincarnated or what, but I had no idea what was going on. Familiar faces that bare no recognition, good and bad, several missing pieces of the puzzle of your life fall right onto your lap, memories of being in battle and war… too many for one to comprehend. Out of confusion, I told you and Ron you were good for each other and allowed you to escape. It was too much to bear that I wanted to escape it. You think you know all about darkness in high school, when it comes to poetry, lyrics, artwork and music, but it was nothing in comparison to my real past."

"You were anything but ordinary, Val. So everything you vented to us in the Tower was true?"

"Half of it."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to know what was false."

She couldn't trust him, but she was willing to listen. Any kind of information would be helpful.

"My ambitions," he quickly answered. "Filtering out the human race by nuclear weapons…? While I have my quirks with the superior race of the world… I couldn't resort to mass murder. Killing thousands would solve nothing at all. It wouldn't change how depressing we're devolving as a species. We're capable of so much… and yet our talents are put to waste… So much for hope in a world like this… Even I'm not stupid enough to think that nuclear weapons was the only way. As an agent I was forced to learn all of the results of nuclear testing and development. I'm not talking about just those videos you watch in physics class, I'm talking about witnessing the result of test sites."

"But you… I'm sorry," Kim quickly caught on. "At first, you really sounded like you were going to do it."

"Again, an act. Using large words and being dramatic can be amusing and fun, but that was not my priority. Just an act."

"I kinda gathered by the way you talked about what everyone else was doing to destroy the world, but never included yourself as a factor. I figured there was no threat, until Wade corrected me about the nukes really missing."

"How's the search progressing?"

"If it was progressing, I wouldn't be here."

"That's not the only reason you're here, is it, Kim?"

A pause.

"I want to know everything but right now I'm concerned about those nukes. _No one_ has been able to find them."

"Incredible. Did they ever check the storage facility they were stolen from?"

"To the point where they got our numbers blocked. They told us they checked the ceiling, underground, every room and every vent numerous times."

Val chuckled. "Did they check the janitor's closet?"

"The what?"

"The janitor's closet."

Kim didn't get it. "Is that some kind of code lingo? I'm not exactly all-knowing in that area."

"No, I mean the actual janitor's closet of the place."

Another pause.

"Are you telling me that there's a _janitor's closet_ in a _nuclear weapons storage facility?"_ Kim asked with total disbelief.

Val laughed at her reaction. "That's what will happen when you hire a designer in France."

"You're serious."

"Very. I infiltrated the building and misplaced all of the nukes intentionally, and all four of them were big enough to fit in that very room."

"No way."

"True story."

Kim groaned. "So they never left the facility in the first place…"

"The only four things that did were dummy warheads."

Kim quickly got up and looked like she was going to have a fit.

"But why on earth would you do something like that?" Kim barked as quietly as she could, then remembered Val said he was used. "Never mind." She sat back down. "Okay, I want to make this clear: There is no nuclear threat at all, right?"

"Honest-to-God Truth? No. Unless someone decides to grab a semi-automatic and unleash hell on those things."

"So you actually set those things to go off?"

"No, but plutonium could leak out if they're penetrated. I was careful in assuring they wouldn't explode, hence not removing the detonation mechanism."

Kim let out a whistle of relief. "Oh, right. Of course. Tells you what I know of nukes."

"I watched enough footage and did my history in high school."

Kim told herself she wasn't going to ask this, but did anyway. "How did you get a higher GPA in high school than I did?"

"Remember when I told you that I myself was a complete innocent in high school?"

"Not by those words, but yeah."

"I didn't have a life then. I had some 'unexplainable' knowledge about biomechanics and the rest of that back then, but I craved and thirsted for knowledge in everything. I know I've said this before, but can you imagine what it's like in high school to possess incredible knowledge of biomechanics, military weapons and techniques, and having no idea where you learned them? Then after you graduate, you suddenly have a huge martial arts arsenal, only remembering some of it before 12. I never even thought about those empty years in-between. Never was interested in extra-curricular activities or sports, since everyone else was a moron."

"Not surprised about thirsting for more information…" Kim mused with disgust.

Val could see the discomfort in her face. "You're talking about your relationship with Ron."

Kim nodded.

Val had something else in mind. "So when you heard that I spied on you and Ron ever since our first fight, it really had an effect on you, didn't it?"

"Well, yeah!" she quietly yelled. "I don't care why you did it, that's just… oh, I just want to go at you again for reminding me of it. You craved the information that much, didn't you?"

"Honestly, no."

"What? Then why did you do it?"

"I didn't."

"That doesn't mean…" Kim realized something. "Wait, what? Tell me again what you mean by 'I didn't'."

"By 'I didn't', I mean that I didn't ever spy on you and Ron in your relationship. While my chrome hand was indeed a spy camera, it couldn't move on its own. The only thing I could spy on was your room."

"You peeping Tom…"

Val rose up and put his hands in front of his face. "Not at all. I only spied on you once or twice. Once when you were on the phone with him, and the second time when you took a nap."

"A nap?"

"It was the time you woke up on the floor with your butt in the air."

Kim covered her face. "Hey, I was in London that night and came home at 11 in the morning!"

"Oh, so that explains it."

"But why?"

"Just to check up and see how my favorite cheerleader heroine was doing. Again, being truthful, I never spied on you when you were changing, when Ron was in your room, or any private moments you might have had to yourself. Just the nap and when Ron was going to take you out somewhere."

"I usually change once I get off the phone with him…"

"Shut it off. I'm not that kind of person. Yes, you're pretty and attractive, one of the prettiest girls I've ever met, but I'm not a pervert."

"So you lied about our private moments being intruded on?"

"Sure did. Again, honest truth. It's nice to see two people together, but even I respect a couple's private moments. I respect privacy as a concept. After all, that's what most of my life has been. I'd be a full blown hypocrite if I didn't. Besides, I have no interest in mushy moments…"

Kim didn't know how to react, but Val could see the joyful spark in her eyes.

"Relieved, Kim?"

"Well, this is an interrogation, so I can't comment."

Val laughed. "Is that what this is? I thought it was a friendly conversation!"

"So again, every moment I knew I had with Ron was private."

"I was no way involved. Despite my lust for knowledge, I had other things to attend to. Don't get me wrong, I know a lot about you and did my research, but that was done through documented information on you and every ally you've had. Any database that had information on you, those were my only sources. And of course, seeing you both in action, which proved to be quite entertaining."

"You're saying our missions were recorded?"

"Not just by means of text, but audio and video as well. Actually, watching your missions was like watching an animated television show."

"If you want to talk about cartoons, talk to Ron. I don't watch that stuff."

"Not a fan of cartoons, Kim? And I thought you weren't the type of person to be so focused on your image."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything. You don't watch them because you tell yourself you're too old to watch them, they're for kids, or that television with real-life actors is the only way to go. Anyone can say they're too old to watch cartoons or enjoy the things they did as a kid. They're afraid to look that 'weak' in front of others. But it takes a strong person to freely admit such things with no hassle. Come on, Kim, is it really embarrassing for others to know you still sleep with Pandaroo?"

Kim almost fell of the bench. "You _did_ spy on me!"

"Recorded, I swear."

Kim let out a disgruntled moan. "To answer your question, yes. Others laugh."

"And when did the opinion of others matter so much? It's _your_ life. Don't go out of your way to hide it. I'm telling you, your missions were recorded like an animated series, and that's how I got my information on you."

"I'm not sure… you did say you weren't treated to any… overly intimate moments."

"Wild guess. I don't think you're the type to give yourself up so quickly."

"I'm not. I'm still a virgin."

"Good for you. Most people in these stages would give in."

"That's not to say the temptation hasn't come to mind…" Kim whispered.

Val cleared his throat loudly.

Kim blinked. "Wait, why am I telling you this? Never mind."

Val chuckled. "It's not my place to offer an opinion, but I'm sure you'll make the best choice for yourself one way or the other."

Kim couldn't believe what she just heard. "Where did all this respect come from?"

"Oh, it's been there since the first time you defeated me."

"Sure didn't seem like it when you put that sword up to my throat… or was that part of the act?"

"Not quite, but that's different. You can still respect someone even if you want them never to interfere with duty. Well, no…" He trailed off.

"You're not telling me that was faked, too?"

"Not at the time, but now that I think about it… I can't kill a woman."

"Is that so?" Kim skeptically asked.

"Unless she's ready to seriously kill me, no."

"But you're willing to fight one to the point where we almost kill each other…" Kim said as she rubbed her jaw.

Val mimicked the gesture. "I believe in equal opportunity. It's just… hard to say. Look at it one way and its respect, another is a fulfilled fantasy, and the next could be a nostalgic feeling."

"A fantasy? Is that what you called the fight on the Tower?"

"Kim, it wasn't the battle to see who the best fighter was, it was a clash of spirits, one of light, and one of dark. And look who won. Yes, it was a fantasy." Kim shook her head, but Val instantly came back. "Don't give me that look. Every human being on this planet has hidden desires and fantasies they would kill to have fulfilled. Metaphorically speaking, of course. You'd be a fool to deny it for yourself."

"But fighting? That's kind of twisted."

"That's nothing compared to other fantasies people have…"

Kim shook the thoughts out of her mind. "You don't need to go into detail about that. I've had a few too many internet searches go wrong to know what that's about. That's why I have Wade do all the internet stuff for me."

"Poor you. My fantasy was to have a one-on-one hand-to-hand duel with a worthy opponent. I never thought that opponent would be a girl."

"So you really don't have some twisted fascination with me?"

"No. I respect and admire you as a person and a fighter, but that's only as far as it goes."

"I see." Kim chose not to ask the details on this one. The last thing she wanted was more of Val's thoughts about who she was, even if they might have been positive.

Val scoffed. "You honestly thought I was some kind of pervert. Many things change in three months, Kim, but just as many things don't. I don't look at girls at tools and objects. Why do you think I felt the way I did after… Never mind."

"Stonedge…" Kim realized. "So you really thought you loved her?"

Val sighed, hoping to avoid the subject. "At the time. It still astonishes me… how someone can go from intelligent, open, pretty, and kind, to selfish, conniving, and just plain rotten. Even at the funeral she didn't appear to be affected by my faked death."

"You were there?"

"If there's a window, there's a way. But you came here to get answers as to our _recent_ engagement."

"Okay… So how did you get involved in this whole thing? You said the Bosses wanted an arsenal of weapons, my dead body, but why did they use you?"

"Because of the first time we fought, and because I'm the last survivor of teen heroes that officially worked for the US government. Enya and many other teams died, but the Ice Shadows, Team Snyder, Raiden Squad, and Fox Band worked for international governments. It also didn't help that I was much more skilled in every area of expertise than they ever could be."

"But you said you didn't do it on your own free will."

"Well, it first started after Sensei's rejection. Hanging on that bridge, the rest of my memories had come back to me and I knew there was a fight that needed to come to an end. I knew that The Bosses had grown more powerful these last three years, and they needed to be stopped. Thankfully, the place where I lived with all of Enya's belongings remained untouched. She told me in her diary how to take them down, but it wasn't going to be easy at all. I had to use excruciating power just to find them. For that, I had to gain materials found only in one place. Go City. I told myself I was going to find them first, but instead, they… or rather, she, found me."

* * *

Two and a half months prior. 

We find that Val is on the highest floor of some run down apartment complex in an abandoned room. He appears to be meditating, but the session is interrupted as the door knocks loudly.

"_Valia Erocus Ryan! We know you're in there! Come out with your hands up!"_

The voices weren't those of regular policemen, and they weren't of the poor saps who tried to sell magazines believing it'd help pay for their college education or for some trip around the world. Val's excuse? _'I'm illiterate.' _It worked.

"_Valia! You have two minutes to respond!"_

'_How lenient…'_ he thought to himself.

He was quick to hear the police sirens and the SWAT teams, but he put his ear to the floor, not making a noise.

'_90 guards… body-armor, handguns and… AKs… So they're serious.'_

Outside the door, five heavily armored SWAT members stand outside, one ready to bust the door open.

"_I'll be right out!"_ a voice from inside called.

A minute passed before anything happened. The guard outside immediately kicked the door open, only to find the door coming back at him, sending splinters and everyone everywhere.

"Knock knock!"

He quickly made his way past several bullets as he raced down the hall, knocking anyone he came across unconscious. He could also hear people inside their apartments freaking out, but not as many as he anticipated. Either no one lived here or were violent on the streets already. Once he had made his way to the open stairway, he leapt from wall to wall; grabbing whichever guard was in his way and threw him at every other guard in his path. He even took one with him. He got a thrill as he kept flying down with the guard screaming.

"See? It's just like a roller coaster."

The guard continued screaming as stairs and other guards flew past him.

Val sighed. "How'd you get this job, anyway?"

The guard just continued to scream. It wasn't long before Val gave up and tossed him into more of his comrades, and they were soon covered in vomit.

"He's outside! Don't let him get away!"

"_Copy that, we've got it handled out here."_

Outside, Val continued to run in the rain, finding a police car ready to run him down. He actually managed to match the speed of the oncoming vehicle, and the driver inside almost turned at the last minute from fear. Val leapt straight into it, crashing through the windshield with his legs, knocking out the driver, and still had enough momentum to fly out the back window.

"Might want to get those windows chec-"

He froze as he realized there were suddenly tranquilizer darts all over his body, turning him into a porcupine. He tried to pull as many off as he could, but no matter what, the number of darts on his body were not lessened as more found their way onto his body. He refused to give up, but he fainted shortly after.

* * *

"Tranquilizers?" 

"When you have fifty of the world's best snipers at your command, forget it. Slicing bullets apart from one direction is one thing, but unarmed and to have them all over you, good night. I don't know about you, but I know when I'm screwed."

* * *

Everything was a blur when he woke up, finding himself tightened onto a rock by the thickest of iron chains. Apparently, someone told these guys he could easily break wooden and plastic chairs. He was a bit frustrated, as it wasn't the first time he was tranquilized and captured. 

"_So, you're awake."_

The room was extremely dark, but Valia recognized the voice.

"Brown…"

The woman in front of him continued to walk back and forth with no emotion in her voice. "So it appears you remember me, old friend. I'm flattered."

"Friend? You're anything but."

"That's not very nice, Valve."

"I don't go by that name anymore."

"Oh, that's right; you had a real name… Valia."

"What the hell do you want?"

"I thought we could have a talk."

"You expect me to buy that after you send armed men after me? You usually have people shot to a blood pulp, so you must have something else in mind for me."

"Unfortunately, we need you alive."

"So what do I owe the displeasure of this encounter?"

"I need you to do me a few favors."

"I don't work for you anymore, and I don't need to take orders."

"Oh, is that right?"

Suddenly, the woman pulls out a shotgun. "Tell me where the diary is."

"Diary? That's a girl's thing, isn't it?"

"Sapphire gave you everything, including her diary. I want to know where it is."

"After I read everything, I burned it for this very reason."

The armed Senator just grunted, but was far from over. "I heard that you lost your hand in a previous engagement."

"I had a little too much fun with swords. I've been trying to get back into that."

Val watches carefully as the armed woman releases his left arm from behind him, but it's completely numb. He can't move it. Brown takes a careful look at where his hand used to be, replaced by broken mechanics.

"That's a shame. Maybe I won't have a use for you after all."

Val smiles. "Oh please, I know where this is going."

"Valia, you're needed by your country, your people."

"You've fed me that bullshit ever since Enya was alive. I know you, Brown, y-"

"You will address me by 'Senator'!" the woman snapped.

"Oh, what's wrong? Having an ego fit? I suppose you have some emotion in you after all."

She points the gun to his head, but Val doesn't look scared at all.

"You can't kill me, not if you went through so much trouble just to get me here. Don't you listen to the news? I'm already dead."

The silhouette lowers the weapon. "You know full well that that was my own doing. You almost had me there until I learned the truth."

"Truth? That's a funny word coming from you. Just say that you need me, and not my country. You don't represent what this country truly stands for at all, and this is only the request of a single senator, not the entire government."

It was clear Brown was ignoring him. "So who is to blame for that?" referring to the mechanics.

"Like I said, I was playing with swords."

"You lie."

"Join the club. Oh, wait, that won't be necessary."

Brown snarls. "You're just like your partner, you know that?"

"She was my mentor, taught me everything, but you set us up just so one of us could die."

"How can you say that? She was a traitor to this country."

"She was loyal to her country until the end, but she would rather die than to become loyal to you."

"You do know she lied about me. She hated what I had, and she felt like she knew too much. But you… you have grown far more superior than she has, in terms of knowledge, experience, everything."

"As far as I'm concerned, you have nothing."

"You don't know me!"

"HAH! Is that the only excuse you can come up with? Come on, only high school students who can't defend their thoughts or beliefs use _that_ excuse!"

"Someone defeated you. I want to know who."

"What's wrong, too lazy to google it?"

"You really are like your partner."

"Only this time, you won't find a way to kill me. You can't kill someone if you're already dead. On the other hand…"

The Senator let out an impressed laugh. "You think you can kill me?" She grabs Val's right arm and slams a syringe in it. He yelps at first, but he realizes that his right arm is also completely numb and can't move it.

Brown lets out a malicious chuckle. "Try anything funny, and you'll suffer a slow and painful death, unlike your partner, unfortunately."

Val just grunts. _"More_ nanomachines?"

"You're a ticking time bomb now. Spill any information to anyone and you'll be destroyed from the inside out. Are you ready to tell me who defeated you?"

"Honestly, I've had a craving for reciting the entire English dictionary."

"Who did it?"

Valia whistles, and Brown doesn't hesitate to aim her gun and fire it.

* * *

Val waved his biomechanical arm around. "I don't care what anyone says about tranquilizers. Two blasts from a shotgun was enough to blow my entire arm off, and the pain itself was too unbearable. It took all the will power in me to stay conscious."

* * *

He almost goes into shock as he sees the nerves from his shoulders. Brown merely wipes the blood from her glasses as Val sulks from the pain. 

"You just did… the dumbest thing… of your life… you bitch…"

Brown kicks Val straight in the face, knocking him down. "You tell yourself that. You'd better give me a name." The senator points the shotgun at Val's crotch. She cocks the gun one more time.

"Fine! You win! It's Kim Possible!"

Brown drops the weapon. "That cheerleader? Unbelievable…"

* * *

"So you really were afraid of death…" Kim observed. "Or your manhood… uh…" 

"I wasn't ready to go yet. Not until I either fulfilled my duty or spread the word about people like her…"

* * *

Val continues to breathe, trying to accept that his left arm is no more. 

"So, unless you want me to blow off what makes a man, you'd better cooperate."

Val just looks away. "Name your… demands."

"Seeing as you once defeated her, I want you to find her and kill her."

"'Once defeated her'…? I thought you had no idea who did this to me!"

"I lied."

Val would be fuming at the mouth, but he coughed blood instead.

* * *

"What kind of world is this?" 

"The real one, Kim."

* * *

Brown went on. "Find her and kill her. But it will not be in the standard issue. First, you will completely destroy her mentally and emotionally. Unlike you, she hasn't been trained to be a soldier in combat, nor her partner. She cannot know that you are involved until you are ready to finish the job, what your intentions truly are until then, and you are not to leave clues that lead up to this. You are to be an unknown, provoking her to the point where she wants blood on her hands. She cannot die with the fame and trust that people know her by." 

"Why? What does… she have to do with… you?"

"To initiate Operation STW (Save the World), I don't need any interference from her. You've knocked her out a few times, and I need for you to do it again, but she must never wake up. That's all."

"That's not just it… is it?"

"No. While you're doing this, I will need you to retrieve our nuclear weapons from France."

"The ones you… gave to them… as a gift for putting… your oldest son into college… there?"

"The very same. They can't properly dispose of them, so I'll gladly use them. You are familiar with the Judgment project, right?"

"You're… kidding."

"All five have been completed. I need you to retrieve them. I don't care how. It's your problem, not mine. Next, I need you to recover what remains of the Pseudo-Human Research and Development production line. I need for them to be mass-produced."

'_She doesn't know…'_ Val thought. "You've lost contact… with the original team?"

"They've gone underground, but most have been relieved of their duties, permanently."

Val grunted hearing this. "So destroy Possible… through her weaknesses, and… recover the five Judgments, the Bio-Mechs, and nukes?"

"Yes."

"You're going to start… World War III, aren't you?"

"That's an ignorant viewpoint. I'm just going to do what's best for the planet. If you have any objections, my shotgun is still aimed at your reproductive organs. Will you accept?"

Val groans. "I will…"

Brown goes around to meet face-to-face with Val, grabbing his neck and putting him back upward.

"It appears after your leave you still obey your superiors. I'm glad you didn't turn out like Fayce."

"Don't you mention her name, you-"

Brown finishes the conversation by slamming the butt of the gun into Val's neck. Everything goes into darkness, but a few footsteps can be heard.

"_Clean up the blood. If he bleeds to death, that's his problem, but he'll find a way… Put him back where we found him."_

"_Ma'am, a lot of people have called the police about the commotion."_

"_I will tell them personally that we've decided to listen to their demands and have started construction. They'll buy it."_

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Have your men seal up the bullets. That's all you'll need to do."_

"_What about those on the streets?"_

"_Another gang battle."_

_

* * *

_

Kim didn't know whether to feel disturbed by the story or the fact that Val was chuckling.

"Kim, don't you see? She didn't force me to do her bidding… she gave me an opportunity."

"An _opportunity?"_ she hollered as she got onto her feet. "Is that what you called this entire thing?"

Val gave her a disappointed look. "If you take one step further, I am seriously going to slap some sense into you. Don't think that I'm telling you this because _you_ want to know it. I'm telling you because _I_ want to. I can sit here for weeks and not move or say a word, so don't jump to conclusions! Now sit down and shut up."

Kim did as she was told with a few twitches from her fists and eyes. She still wasn't believing everything he said.

Val continued. "Now that I knew what she wanted to do, and now that I knew where she was… This is the beautiful thing: She actually told me where and when to get the materials and where to deliver them. She told me where to get the nukes, how to sabotage the judgments, but I had to look for the bio-mechs on my own. She wanted me to deliver her an army of the worst weapons."

"You were going to fight her with them?"

"No. Nanos were programmed to blow me away if I tried, but that gave me a much better idea. I wasn't going to deliver her the goods. She was quite satisfied when the French declared their nukes were missing and others reported their Judgments were stolen. Meanwhile, I had other plans for the bio-mechs. Oh no, she wasn't going to have the satisfaction of seeing them being brought to her."

It hit Kim. "You were going to have them destroyed and screw her over on this, weren't you?"

Val cackled. "What, did you honestly think I'd willingly do what that old bag told me?"

"Maybe."

Val groaned. "Listen, Kim. My real motive in all of this was to screw Brown over. In order what needed to be done, it required for the manipulation of everyone I knew. You couldn't know, Brown couldn't know, no one could. And no one saw it coming. I wasn't interested in killing you or Ron. Oh sure, it seemed like it quite often, but that was part of the act. I carefully planned everything out so you all thought you were in grave danger, but I all planned it out so that none of you would die. It was all about Brown. You were just along for the ride. But… when I realized I could fight you until we were both exhausted… I couldn't resist to take that chance. Even though I became a pawn, this one chose to be a player."

Kim didn't respond to this immediately. "Throwing Ron out the window and having Yori save him? So that really had some role in this?"

"He wasn't going to die either way."

"Having Elurt's hands shoot us down?"

"You've survived worse. Didn't expect Yori to be injured but we both managed."

"Having us attack a giant walking tank?"

"Knew you would find a way to destroy it, but what happened to Ron wasn't anticipated."

"The nanomachines or the explosion?"

"The explosion. I thought I was screwed there, but his mystical monkey power not only saved him, but healed him at a fascinating rate. The nanomachines were only a method of aggravation with body control; experimental for many reasons. I also had to check how you were doing – mentally, physically, and emotionally, and I had to provoke you more. The so-called 'disease' in the nanos were never meant to kill him. As I said before it was just a program that _said_ it could destroy him, but I was impressed by the way you all handled it. I never thought such a draining machine existed."

"But the French kiss and grabbing my butt?"

"Ron's done it several times, no?"

Kim took her time with answering. "No, it was actually me."

Val widened his eyes. "Really? Wow, minus ten points for me. You're more perverted than I thought you were."

Kim was quick to hide her face in her hands. "Moving on… You said your motives with the nukes were faked."

"Right."

"Your past with Enya, Elurt, and Sensei?"

"All real."

"The Hind?"

Val snorted. "Like that's the first time you were nearly blown to kingdom come."

"Hmm… I guess it's happened so often I never thought about it that way. But how did you get a Russian helicopter to Bay City?"

"An old gift. Hid it before I got my memory block, found it right where I left it once I got back. That reminds me, I have a question of my own… I noticed Ron had ten missiles on him when you fought me, but you must have shot thirty or so at me. How… I'm not sure I understand it. He didn't happen to have any unusual wear or device on him, did he? It can't be mystical monkey power."

"No, Nev's mission suits were all the same… oh, wait. He did have this bandana with an infinity symbol on it."

"That'll do it, then."

"What?"

Val chuckled as he laid back and got comfortable. "Rumor had it that if you engraved the infinity symbol onto a weapon or wore articles of clothing that had it embedded in it, you would have infinite ammunition for any weapon."

"Are you serious? There _has _to be more of an explanation to it that that."

"There isn't. Sew it or engrave it and voila, infinite ammo."

Kim had confused written all over her face. "Oooookay… What about the rant with not being qualified for being a hero?"

Val got up and narrowed eyes met narrowed eyes. "Real. You were fighting completely out of rage, and such emotions interfere with any and all thoughts. Sure, the movies tell you that when you're being angry, you open up five cans of whoop-ass, but here in the real world it messes up your mind and you're almost guaranteed to lose in a fight. There are times where your temper can help you to become more powerful, but it can also destroy you just as easily. It almost did since you were quick to lose focus of everything you were and stood for, more bent on revenge than justice. This isn't the Centurion Project, Kim. You can take on the usual variety with anger, but not me."

Kim didn't understand what Val was really after. On one hand he was provoking her to kill him with everything she had, and on the other he was helping her out with hard advice.

Val could see the thoughts just through her eyes. "Like I said, I needed you alive. I couldn't go easy on you at all, but you were going to fail unless you regained your composure. Even you needed to know that."

"…You were giving me hard 'advice'? Why?"

"That's what you do with advice; spread it. It means nothing if you keep it to yourself."

"And you _had_ to do so _much_ to prove it…"

"You can't just tell someone how to win a fight and expect them to believe it. To truly learn anything, the lesson must come hard and with aggression. You won't understand the consequences the work has to offer unless you see it for yourself. Yes, I used Ron as an example when he was thrown from the window and the nanos and the assassination 'attempt'."

Kim saw what Val was getting at. "You were fighting me, but you were helping me? That…"

Val cracked his knuckles. "Doesn't make sense? Kim, in the real world, heroes and villainy aren't just black and white. Everyone exists in a shade of gray. Some villains help heroes and some heroes help villains. They might not agree, but more often than not they're friends or respected rivals fighting on opposite sides. They won't tell the other how to kill them, but they exchange knowledge with each other. Not everyone you think is a villain really is. I've had moments where I killed a person because I was told they were my enemy, but with their dying breath they told me of their past and why they did what they did. It wasn't manipulation, but sometimes you wish you didn't kill them because they fought for something good, too. Well, right now everyone you're fighting is of pure black, and you're pure white. In the real world, there are endless shades of gray in-between."

Kim crossed her arms. "I'm supposed to believe you're one of those shades of gray."

Val lightly shrugged. "That's for you to decide."

"The final fight wasn't part of the act…"

"But staging it to the public was. That way, Brown couldn't cover it up. The cyphers were there so the world could watch, and if anything happened, the public would know. I wanted to see what you were really made of and see how we compared. I was never interested in the result. The fight in the underwater dome was exhilarating, but that was no true battle, considering we were all equipped with weapons, battle suits and the like. I just wanted to experience the fantasy most martial artists dream of: A one-on-one fight with no weapons, just two spirits fighting at each other to their full extent. You delivered."

"Did your soul ever find 'respite' as you put it?" Kim mockingly asked.

"It explains the change in my voice," he smiled.

Kim shook her head. "Weird. But the fight wasn't exactly meant to destroy me, right?"

"Only if you lost."

Kim hoped by coming here she would become less confused, but she found herself much more confused than ever. "So that was it, then? No revenge or anything against me or Ron?"

"Just against Brown and Elurt."

Kim seemed to be troubled.

"What's bothering you?"

"N… nothing. I'm just surprised this isn't revenge against me. Every time I fight someone, the next time I see them, it's always revenge."

Val laid back on the bench again. "Revenge is only about making yourself feel better. While I did feel I helped avenge Enya with Elurt's death, I have nothing to gain out of revenge for fighting you and Ron. I'm hardly ever interested in the outcome, but I wasn't myself back then, so you wouldn't have known. When I lose, I accept my defeats. I'm not a sore loser. If it weren't for Brown taking me as her hostage, I would have left you and Ron alone. I'm not the kind of person who demands a rematch if I lose, but since I was given an opportunity to fight you again, I took it. I only kill when the person needs to die. You don't belong on such a list."

"So Brown was the real enemy in all of this?"

"The one and only. I just had to pretend to take that role to keep myself alive."

Kim went curious. "She wanted you to kill me. Tell me what happened after she captured you."

"Extensive research on you. I would learn more details and demands by her later via e-mail in my nanos. Don't ask. That's when she told me the other objectives to fulfill, she also informed me of the circumstances with what was going on internally. You see, I didn't know exactly what she did to me at first, but later informed me I was a bomb. Had I known sooner, I would've killed the bitch right there and then even if it meant I had to die, too."

"Val… just who exactly is Senator Brown?"

"Brown's the senator of the state of… well, we already know, but she's the first US senator to have 'Ebonics' as her first official language. She joined the government to help the kids in the ghetto and put an end to poverty, gang wars and that like. She had passion for it at first, but not enough to last her for years. Down the road, she would be much more focused on her two sons. She completely abused her power to make sure they got the best of the best, and believe me, they didn't deserve it. They got several girls pregnant, killed half of them and their babies. But her legacy would be broken recently. She bribed the French with nukes to get her eldest son into a college there."

"I figured from the story."

"Well, he's the kind of guy who can easily woo a woman with charm. Say the right thing, pretend to be all-caring, and they're in the same bed the very night. That's another thing that confuses me about women…"

"What? Guys who can charm girls?"

"Those who have those qualities built into them, and those who pretend to have those qualities. Yet, the one who pretends gets the girl, and the one who is actually not faking such behavior, but is no less charming, is completely ignored. Well, that's irrelevant, so going on…"

"Well, even if it's not relevant, I know what you mean," Kim acknowledged.

"… Andrew did this to all sorts of women for points. He got nine women in town, but he made the fatal mistake of not getting to know his mistresses better. The truth was that they were all connected because they worked for the same company. So the women found out, and they were not happy with Andrew one bit. They called themselves 'The Sisterhood'. They tried to shove it aside since they were all good friends, but he grew more abusive to the point where one of the girls got killed. The others weren't too happy about that obviously, so when he was asleep, they put him in a transport crate and took the next flight out. When he woke up, he had been drafted into the Iraq War by them. They even took the time to make sure it appeared like he enrolled on his own will, paperwork and all."

"Even with his mom as the senator, he couldn't get out?"

"He didn't protest long. The second they put a gun in his hand, he was ready to unleash hell. Let's just say _'tryin' to represent'_ doesn't work on the battlefield. He was killed in combat by running straight into a missile. If you look at the footage, it's embarrassing as hell. You can't tackle or body-slam one. Idiot. Once the word got to mommy senator, Brown was furious, blaming everyone she could think of. I think she slipped out 'Ronald McDonald' on TV, but I'm sure the media censored that."

"What about her other son?"

"Ferno."

"What? Jen?"

"Marvin went to Bay City as soon as he heard how big it was, and he was ambitious to establish the next major west side gang. Jennifer didn't allow for it, and while she went in soft, he was the one who initiated the gunfight. His so-called peeps ran the second a shot was fired, but I'm guessing you haven't seen how quick she _really_ is."

"I saw her when… well, you were there in stealth camouflage when she put me, Ron and Yori into a bind."

"That was nothing. You haven't truly seen her in a real gunfight, have you?"

"No."

"Well, it's interesting. Usually people study martial arts to defend themselves in hand-to-hand combat or to become powerful fighters. Not her. She practiced multiple techniques strictly for maneuvering purposes. This is where her Ensei-ken came in handy, because the style was developed for speed and grace over anything else. She became incredibly fast in a gunfight, able to dodge bullets and any other incoming projectiles that came her way, simply by shifting her body or performing acrobatic moves. That's why she didn't suffer a mark when you took on the bio-mechs. Unfortunately, she didn't practice hand-to-hand combat as much as she could have with her styles, but she relies on unarmed CQC a lot for that. She's an excellent fighter, but her knowledge of moves and techniques is too limited. Regardless, she easily killed Brown's last son in a gun clash. Brown was furious all over again, especially due to the fact that she is too old to produce any more children. Like you, she wanted me to provoke the girl and to emotionally destroy her. That's where her dad came into the picture."

"So you figure the way to break us is by destroying the people we love."

"The heart is the fastest way."

"But you knew that Ron was in Bay City… But you didn't plan my fight with Ron?"

"Your first real fight of your relationship? No, not at all. Actually, Ferno wasn't on Brown's death wish list until records indicated that her father sent out for Ron. She figured I could kill two birds with one stone."

"But it wasn't you, it was Yori… Tell me something. As 'Dive', you told me that they were involved to get me jealous."

"A lie."

"Still, about Yori… Do you mind changing the subject to her?"

"This is your interview, not mine."

"Oh, right… How exactly was she a part of the 'act'?"

"She wasn't. Part of my research included her, and I was actually astonished to find that she gained a crush on Ron with the exchange deal. But seeing the pictures brought back good memories, so I decided I would pay her a visit. Nothing to do with the operation."

"Just like that?"

"Brown never gave me a time limit, and there were some healing herbs I needed to attend to my wounds, only found near the school. Right after I picked up enough to heal all of my skin-torn scars and injuries, I noticed someone was coming close, and it was her. Imagine what it would be like if Ron hadn't seen you for ten years, how would he react?"

Kim looked away. "I'd rather not answer that."

Val leaned in closer to meet her eyes. "But you know what I mean. Last time you saw a friend, she was just that, but she was now a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, like most beautiful women, underneath the exterior there's something that isn't so beautiful. The problem with training with other ninjas is that you can usually detect each other, and that's what happened. So she found me, barely able to recognize me at all. But when she dug through my mind, she knew it was me and was more than happy to be reunited with an old friend."

"Were you two good friends back then?"

"I was the only guy who spoke to her and treated her like a person, so yes."

"She told us that she predicted her parents' deaths."

"That's exactly why people ignored her; they were freaked out by such fact. But even then I wasn't concerned. She didn't predict death for me, so I was fine with it. But the happy reunion didn't last long. She wanted to know why I had burns and portions of skin ripped off all over my body. Because she could read minds, she found out why. A fight immediately broke out."

"Because you attacked me and Ron before."

"Right. I hope you didn't buy her act of liking you. Oh, she didn't give a damn about you… It was Ron she was concerned about. As a matter of fact, once she went through my mind, she had a sudden dislike for you."

"Because I was dating Ron."

"Right. She fought me out of complete anger and lost. And believe me, ninjas don't take things well when they lose. Yori even asked me to end her life, but I figured she could be of some help. When she dug into my brain further about what was now going on, she found out that I was a ticking time bomb. When she found out why, that I needed you dead, Ron instantly came to mind. She offered her help."

"To kill me?"

"No. She figured out that I was going to screw the Bosses, but if you were involved, she wanted in. She refused to accept the fact that you were dating, so she wanted to see the truth for herself and prove that I was 'misguided' about you both. From there, she would have taken Ron away and live in her own little paradise with him. Happily ever after, she thought. She knew she couldn't do anything the last time because she was still a student at Yamanuchi, but now a graduate, she could live her own life with him. You weren't of any concern."

"So she really changed just like that?"

"Hard to say. I also know you're the spitting image of everything she loathes in a girl, American or not."

"Wait, why?"

"Let me put it this way: She hates the kind of girl who has to look at herself in the mirror everyday and put on makeup; those who concern themselves with their appearance. It's kind of a double standard. She hates guys who are focused with their appearance, but she hates girls who do the same more. Hirotaka wooed her a few times, but he was too 'modern' for her. Since Ron wasn't concerned about his image when he was around her, that's why she thought she was better qualified for him."

"You make it sound like she really wanted me to be removed from the picture."

"That was the point. I would fight you to the death, and she could have Ron whether or not you survived. She told herself it was some kind of deal. I assured her it wasn't, but she must've ignored me. But I knew with her new attitude towards you, none of this was going to work. So I convinced her for this to all go well, I needed to take her back to America and perform a mental operation. She wouldn't remember any of this, but she would be near Ron."

"And she agreed?"

"She agreed. As long as she could see him again, she would. After collecting more herbs, we took a plane from Tokyo. Back in my original lab, she consented to the operation. So, using an electrical discharge provided in earrings, amplified by her metallic hairpiece, add some programming language and she was a drone right out of the oven."

"I don't know how anyone could agree to that."

"If you thought I was obsessed with you, that's nothing compared to her obsession with Ron. I programmed the earrings to erase the part of her memory when she found me, but like you, she wouldn't remember it when the devices were destroyed. That way, she would have no idea why she was sent, and she would figure out the truth for herself."

"Now that you mention that, why did you erase my memory in your old lair? What did you do to me the whole time?"

"Trained you, fed you, let you do your private business when necessary, sleep. The usual. Just because I was holding you hostage didn't mean you had to be trapped in one place. You would have died if I just left you suspended on the ceiling."

"I'm guessing everything I did then; I was still under the mind control."

"Yes, just so you wouldn't escape. I wanted a fight down there, and I wanted Ron to figure things out."

"If that's the real reaosn, you're a weird one, Val."

He crossed his arms behind his head. "I'm complicated compared to your usual variety."

"Anyway, back on Yori… Even as a telepath you were able to erase those thoughts."

"Her telepathy meant nothing until I met up with her after she ran crying. I still couldn't allow her to ruin everything just yet, so I used a sleep needle on her. Even though she knew I had no intention of ever killing you and Ron, or anyone that didn't deserve to die, she still told herself otherwise."

"And you fought her to knock some sense into her."

Val's face went uneasy. "I know people are weak and insecure, but when they start to blame others for their own actions, it _really_ grinds me up."

Kim chose not to discuss the heated argument. "We encountered her after the fight was over. She said you were right, admitted to everything she did wrong, and said she was going to go on a soul search because she really doesn't understand anything about herself or everything else the world offers. She even told Ron that things wouldn't work out between them."

"Good for her," he spoke quietly.

"Next: Elurt."

"The old fool? He wasn't on Brown's demands list. That was a personal motive. Everything I yelled at him about wanting Enya's body as a trophy, the deaths of his seventeen daughters, screwing us over in Iraq… it was true. Like those he worked with, he wanted world domination no less than The Bosses, and he can easily become dimwitted when it comes to that. The story about taking out economic figures and having him replace them? It wouldn't work at all. But he was always yelling at his syntho-drones, as they weren't truly loyal. So, upgrade them, program more insane personalities, and pass them off as human."

"About the drones, or mechs, whatever you call them… Was what you said at the Tower true as well, that you had them fight us only to be destroyed?"

"They were mass produced a long time ago, but the Hephaestus upgrade occurred shortly after the Diablo Incident. There were many reasons I wanted them destroyed. Brown for one, playing God another, but they were also supposed to be sent to fight against our boys in Iraq. Brown's doing. They wouldn't figure it out. But they were outdated and serve us no further use. They were created to mimic humans so we could try to understand them better, but now with all members of the PHRND dead, it was best to put the project to rest. We don't need a world where life can come out of a cereal box."

Kim seemed to be in thought. "I wonder… you know, as crazy as Elurt's hands were, I wonder how far we can go with mimicking human behaviors…"

"Not a good idea. When I recovered them, I didn't allow them any free will or thinking. They were only programmed to destroy you. Elurt's hands were an exception, as I needed to pass them off as human. They too had free will removed, only because Elurt's a control freak."

"What if they did have free will?"

"They would revolt against their creators. Same goes for cloning and any other artificial methods of producing life. And even if the mechs made peace, since the bio-mechs are half-human, half-machine, can you imagine what would happen if people chose to reproduce with them, since they actually possess artificial reproductive organs and functions?"

"Okay, never thinking about that again…" Kim spoke with her tongue half out. "I'm guessing what you said about the Forefathers was true as well?"

Val hummed to himself. "Every word. Blood drain, put it into mechs, watch them fail. True."

"You make it look and sound like this was all nothing."

Val shrugged. "No big. But seriously, the more you see the less you're surprised. Besides, when you work with someone like Enya, you tend not to be emotional in deadly situations. It was also the only reason we came out unscathed and alive. It was just those rare moments where she gave rations and food to children, taught them to play sports with a beaten ball, and when she told me she loved me… none of those were expected."

"What was she really like? I mean, as a person, not a soldier."

"She was extremely secretive about who she was, but was not shy toward how much she loved her country and how much she hated Brown and Silvia, even to their faces. She was all business, and never associated with anyone outside her work, not even me. But she vented a lot when I was around, and being the caring guy I was back then, I listened. We discussed politics, war, economics, and all that kind of stuff. It was those rare moments on the field where she showed compassion that surprised me."

"You said you were influenced by her diary."

"The whole 'filter out the humans with the nukes' was her idea. She knew a lot, but there were times where her mind snapped. She would do anything to get Brown and Silvia, even if it meant performing her duties similar to terrorism and betraying the country she loved. She thought that the government was falling apart from the inside, due to finger pointers and specific people in the middle taking advantage of their power."

"I see. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why are you telling me all of this? I mean… openly?"

"Not what you expected? Well, it's the least I can do after you helped destroy the bio-mechs, the Judgments, beating me and granting me some inner peace, frying the nanos and letting me share such vital information." He let out a huge cough afterward. "You're the most powerful teen hero on the planet right now, Kim. You need to know everything before its too late."

"So what more do I need to do before then?"

"You go home and live your life as you normally would. Go on dates, go back to school, live life the way you want to. I'll finish this myself."

"Run that by me again? Val, I'd hate to break this to you, but I didn't come to get you out of here. Even if all of this wasn't your doing, you still committed a lot of crimes, even from before all of this. Leave it to me. I'll take care of her. You're staying here."

Val scoffed. "You don't have a chance in hell against her."

"You said that I couldn't take her on if I couldn't take you down. And I did."

"Barely. As far as I'm concerned, it was nearly a draw. You'd be able to take her down only if you quickly defeated me without a scratch. Unlike you, I don't have much to lose. I suppose I was wrong about another thing; there's some good that comes when you go public. People know they can rely on you for just about everything. You're a role model, and you give people hope. Most people would wonder endlessly where any kind of light shines in a world gone mad, and there you are. But imagine what will happen to your reputation if word goes out that you attacked a senator? No more hits on your website, people giving you dirty looks, children trashing their posters of the person they once adored and believed in…"

"Even if I show all the evidence of her work?"

"Even so, believe me. This is my fight, not yours."

"But you've given me enough information. A name is all I need. Wade can handle the rest, from records to security."

"If he tries, they'll spike his system permanently, and not all of your equipment is ready yet."

"Another question, why'd you destroy everything we had?"

"Our duel wasn't going to be like the previous one. You like to do things the easy way with your toys. I don't. Besides, I'm sure they were in need of an upgrade."

Kim got up, stretched real quickly and went towards the gate. "I'm going after her whether you like it or not."

Val scoffed. "Stubborn woman… You _can_ do anything, including losing the right to live a normal life. Whether you succeed or fail in stopping her, the outcome is the same. She will ruin your life as she did mine. Your rights as a human being will be stripped, she'll have the world see you as a traitor, and everyone you know and love will be taken away or turn against you. The only way to stop her is to kill her, and you don't have what it takes to take one's life so that others may live! You're no executioner."

Kim sighed, keeping her back facing the prisoner. "Val… I've learned a lot on this last journey. I don't know what's going to happen with my life, but I'll get through it. I don't care if you don't think I'm capable of it. The whole time… ever since Ron was almost taken out by Yori at Bueno Nacho, even I wasn't sure I'd get through all of this. But I persevered. Reality kept betraying me with every step, with Ron's life always on the line. But I fought, and I won, even against you. Even I have my moments of almost giving up, and believe me; I thought Ron's life wasn't worth all this trouble. We've been in danger so many times, saved so many lives, but those behind it and those harmed; they're all people. I've had my share of times where I wanted to quit, just to stay steady with Ron, pursue college and live. Maybe one of these days I will have a family. But saving the world is something I do, because even though it's the safest to stay in the dark, the people need to know that someone's out there looking out for them. I don't fight because of some politician, my own personal gains, or to entertain people, or even get on the news. I'm only here because people fear everything, and they need a bit of hope. Maybe you're right, I might not be the strongest there is, emotionally, but like you said, I'm human, too. I want to be able to love, to cherish and enjoy everything I've got. Even if my life takes a dark turn, I'll always be there for people to count on. If I can suffer everything I did in the last month, then I know I can survive anything else the world has to offer. It doesn't matter when… doesn't matter where. I'll be there for everyone until the very end. The risks are there, I know that, but I'm not going to go down without any kind of fight."

Val appeared to be impressed. "You've finally got it, Kim, the heart and mind of a hero… I might have lost it some time back, but if everything you said was true, you've got what it takes after all. I suppose I was wrong about you, but being proven wrong about some things can be quite satisfying."

"Val, I save the world. If everything you said about Brown was true, she _will_ be stopped."

"Taking out Brown alone _won't_ save the world. Surely she's passed the information onto another colleague of hers, if not everyone in the courts and congress. If you really want to destroy the real problem, you'll wind up destroying almost the entire government from the inside out, and that's something you can't risk, even in your heart."

"I'm no executioner, you're right. But we can prevent even the starting phases."

Val shook his head. "The starting phases are long over. Did you really think the state our country is in now is because people are qualified to form their own opinions? No, half of them don't have what it takes to form an opinion, but follow others. Surely you know that there's a lot of people who want to change the country completely, into the exact opposite of what our founding fathers wished for. It's Brown's influence. She's trying to rewrite everything so that history books seem inaccurate. She wants to take this country into a completely different direction, and since a lot of those congress guys have the same mindset of 'political points over the people'. The objective of the influence is to destroy order, and without order, there is only chaos: The so-called 'True Freedom'. So far the popularity lies in those who are too weak to form their own opinions and instead follow others."

"People can fight back if they know what she's trying to do."

"But they won't. People don't like the fact that they don't have control over every aspect of their life, whether it is for the better or the worse. When given the opportunity for more control, they'll go for it without thought. And if they ever gain full control, they will only desire more. There's no such thing as complete and absolute freedom, Kim. It's anarchy. Freedom isn't free and people die for it everyday. We should just be glad that we have the freedom to live and pursue the things that truly matter. But we cannot live in a world only for ourselves. Everyone else is just as important as you no matter how much money or power you have. But sadly, there are those who want to keep themselves happy, and make everyone else's life miserable. They want to teach the new generation that it's okay not to have boundaries and rules. Such things are what maintains stability. We all have our guilty moments, but we can't have our logic of life to be only to live for yourself, even if it is the last day on earth. To some, that means doing any and everything remotely wrong for their own selfish desires. We live to teach the next generation the difference between what's really right and wrong and to prevent them from repeating our own mistakes. Even if we cannot truly succeed, it's worth living to try. Only then can you die knowing your life had some positive impact no matter how small or how big it is."

Kim didn't have any response for this.

Val went on. "They'll always take advantage of the moment… any moment. I don't know about you, Kim, but when I turned eighteen, I didn't go out to strip bars, legally buy drugs or any of the nonsense most do when they turn eighteen… not that I do drugs anyway. I could do so much, but I chose not to. As for everyone else, all they did was go with the flow…"

"On my eighteenth, Ron and I had to stop a grandma in a tank. After that he took me shopping and we went to a movie."

"Speaking of theatrics, tell me something. How were they able to cover up the Hind and the fight?"

"They tried, but _everyone_ saw through. All sides, not just one like you've been saying. There's been a lot of talk about political corruption and conspiracies, since all of Bay City's authorities said they couldn't interfere under orders."

"Good, because that was my exact intention. I used everything Brown wanted me to use, but against her. This wasn't going to be a cover-up story; I was willing to expose everything to the public. That's why I attacked you in the Hind, because I knew the explosion would catch the public eye. I knew we'd all survive. While I didn't intend Elurt to attack me in the Harpuia, the people below were bound to see that as well, especially since Jennifer drove it around town and scared the hell out of rioters and looters. Even the sounds of assault rifles and explosions throughout your ascension caught the people's attention, more so when I filled the place with poison gas, and the fact that Brown had rescinded the orders of any authorities to take action. If people actually put their petty political differences aside, they would actually see that there's a much greater crisis in play. But you can only do so much to expose the truth… and people are _never_ satisfied with it, no matter what it is."

"So you did all that for the attention?"

"Brown couldn't yank an excuse out of her ass and cover _that_ up."

"Gun cameras?"

"Deactivated them when Yori intercepted Ron. No one else was coming to the top other than you and your team."

"What about those commandos? We already figured out they weren't GJ."

"Right. Brown wanted her own group of commandos. Of course, if they messed anything up or blew their cover, GJ would take the fall. That's why they wear similar garb, to confuse people. You see, when I told you that we had an hour to fight, we had an hour to fight until they'd be on their way. I never called for them, but the 'detonator' was just a timer on my watch."

"So they weren't working for you?"

"No, but I anticipated their behavior though. Even if I revealed myself and made this all public with my cyphers, Brown would think I was this close to finishing you off, and nothing would charm her more than to see her puppet destroy the world famous teen on worldwide television. Unless, of course, her name was mentioned. The commandos were there only to carry out the loser. The problem was, in her eyes, _you_ were supposed to lose, not me. Instead of people losing the hope they always had in you, they cheered for you even more. That was another thorn in Brown's plan. She ordered them to kill all of us in a desperate measure without thinking, a completely idiotic move on her part, but it wouldn't matter if we died. But Yori saved us. If we had all been whacked, everybody would want to know why it happened. From people who still have The Oregon Trail on their computer to the next generation gearheads, they would find the truth and it would lead to her. She probably didn't know what caused the disarmament of her men, but realized it would be best to let the local authorities handle it, knowing I'd be taken here, and she'd finish me off herself, then go after you. Looks like you beat her to me."

"And what if I had lost the fight?"

"I didn't consider it at the time, actually. But they'd probably take you away, and when you'd wake up you'd be tied to a chair, limbs numb and with a shotgun in your face. But since you would have lost, the people's trust in you would have diminished. You would just suddenly disappear from existence. Since you would be eliminated, that would give her a better opportunity to turn this country into her own little world for her own selfish ambitions. And by the time anyone from your fans to your family found out what happened to you, it'd be too late. Unless someone kills Brown, every day we risk witnessing the end."

"I'm not going to kill her. There's got to be another way."

"Kim, there's never one way to do something, and you can't always pick the right way every time, either. Why do you think communist leaders still exist? Because we want them to? We can't get close! Even if we tried, there'd be a whole lot of crap on the media pointing fingers at the wrong person about it. Even if you could send her to jail, which is less likely than a hot and pure girl in a chat room who likes cars and video games that aren't Final Fantasy and can actually pronounce Japanese words correctly without looking like a wannabe, there's no lawyer in the world that would fight her. Even you know that some people must die, but if you don't have it in you to kill them, I understand."

Speaking with Val, she became aware of Brown's influence over the people, now that she thought about the people she saved and those who interviewed her. It wouldn't be easy at all.

"Val, even if this is your fight, I won't let you out of here."

"It's not the first time I've been sealed in a prisoner cell," he calmly replied, "I was going to wait until Brown got here with executioners and take her to hell with me, but seeing that you arrived first, I have other ambitions for life…"

"You seem pretty sure you can escape from here, and you're going to continue the fight even then."

"After I do what needs to be done with Brown, I'll live my own life. Like Yori, I too have wanted to travel the world."

Kim didn't know how to respond to this. She could hear how honest he was in this new unfamiliar tone, but at the same time, she wouldn't let him free. He was a prisoner and still did crimes separate from those he was accused with. No one was able to determine who was responsible in the deaths of the Forefathers, and there wasn't enough evidence that Val himself killed Elurt, since there were no remains.

"Well, if you choose to just leave me here for Brown to pick me off, that's fine…"

"She's not going to get here. I'll do whatever it takes before then… Now that I think about it, I've still got my stealth suit… she won't know it's me."

"Please. With your build and those green eyes, she'll know. It's safe to say she's done her research on you, too. Right now she's probably handling paperwork just to cover her involvement as always. It explains the delay in getting here."

"So if you go in after her?"

"Knowing her, she probably thinks she can take me on."

"And you're going to kill her."

"Unless I can think of another way to rid her from anything she's already involved in…" He paused in thought. "I've already got an idea."

Flickering lights then became the only noise in the area.

"So, is that everything you wanted to know, Kim?"

"That's what I can think of. Yori, Jen, Ron… Elurt, you… Actually, there's something I've been wondering for some time."

"What's that?"

"You're an expert on biomechanical studies, right?"

"One of so few these days, I guess you could say."

"Nev… would you happen to know who saved him?"

"Me."

Kim didn't appear amused. "So I thought…"

"I was visiting Lowerton at the time because Michelle was supposed to attend the regionals there…"

"November of 2003? You were there?"

"Sort of. Michelle never arrived, so I left to get a bite to eat. I usually took my mechanical equipment with me everywhere I went. When I got bored I would usually try to make weapons or gadgets. Similar to yours, actually. Apparently, the first thing I saw outside was a guy knocked out and sliced apart by some girl in a fake ninja tunic. She stole half of his heart and nearly sliced off all his limbs, leaving him for dead and ran off. It was Nev, and it was a brutal sight. He somehow survived, but unless someone took immediate action, he wouldn't make it. So with the limited hardware I had, and with the knowledge of the human body, I reconstructed what I could. Once I got his blood flowing through wires and his heart working, I had to knock out power in the area to revive him."

"So that explains the blackout during Upperton's cheer off."

"I stopped the bleeding and was able to give him back body functions stolen, but the ambulance came and took him away afterwards. Honestly, I'm extremely surprised he's still alive. It was no coincidence that we met online, but… I should've known…"

"Should've known what? That you placed a hard burden on him?"

"He has the spirit and will to live, that's another reason I saved him. But… one of the reasons I kept him alive was… When I saw that girl of his escape, I had the power to do something, and I couldn't allow her the satisfaction of killing him at all. I thought heartbreak only belonged to the unfortunate, and a few months later, it would happen to me, too. You can see how we both turned out when you met both of us… the different sides to the same coin."

"I noticed. But… I think he still considers you as a friend in some way. I don't think he knows it was you."

"When I stole his battle suit, I did leave some extra equipment for him to use, but I'm not sure if he ever made use of it. Unfortunately, he never noticed the exchange."

"Why couldn't you make a battle suit of your own?"

"I have no experience with cybertronics, only biomechanics. Big difference."

"Yeah… but… would it hurt to help him? I'm not sure how long he'll last."

"Maybe some day I'll give him a visit and try. He doesn't have the confidence to do it himself, and I can see why. If I survive all of this, we'll see."

"If you can, please."

Val only gave her a warm smile. "I guess I still serve some purpose…"

Kim turned around and tightened the belt of her coat. She had no idea how the prisoner could withstand the cold.

"Oh, one more thing."

Val tossed some kind of paper straight at her, and she caught it with two fingers, not even looking back. It was folded, and when she opened it up…

"Tickets to a karaoke club?"

Val grunted. "Oh, Kim, the _least_ you can do is pronounce is correctly. It's pronounced _ca-rah-o-kay_, not _cair-ree-oh-kie_."

Kim silently acknowledged. "But why?"

She didn't notice a small portion of the cell bars were cut green.

"This prison won't hold me forever, Kim. It also didn't work for the previous residents. Look, whether or not you agree with any of what I've said… Everything I told you was the truth… We'll meet again… I'm sure of it… Take care of yourself until then…"

Kim quickly turned around, but Val was nowhere in the cell. He was gone.


	26. 25: Denouement

_Warp back to chapter 23 and 24 if you haven't read them._

_Final Chapter, and the story's finally done. I know the change in events weren't going to have that strong an impact, but it was the ending I thought up of so many months back. I know it's just as strange as the ending of the last story, if not more, but a story is just an idea. That's fiction. I just typed what came to mind, went over it over and over and over and over again so that it didn't conflict with the series or my previous story. I didn't expect this story to hit 200,000 words, either. All I knew was that I typed a chapter, and boom, it was around 10,000 words. Well, now I know why Adult Swim goes so fast at night._

_I should credit a few references for parts in the story I didn't exactly make up on my own: The Metal Gear series (stealth camo, infinite ammo bandana), the Virtua Fighter anime ('her' work - Eva Durricks/ Durix – mentioned in Chapters 8 and 21), and Ferrari F355 Challenge (The arcade game in Chapter 3)._

_Third story? Not sure._

_I'd like to thank all the reviewers and even those who leave no words. Thanks for reading. Signing out._

_**UPDATE 11/18:** Just a few small corrections. After seeing Exchange and finally putting on the captions, I realized it was a _must_ to correct the Yamanuchi misspellings, among a few details that bothered me, although they don't change the overall plot and are all minor._

_Third story? Yes. After finishing this the idea came into my head, and it will be of the same universe. It will be nowhere near as long as this one, though, but probably longer than the previous story. When you'll see it I don't know.  
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**Chapter 25: Denouement**_  
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* * *

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She didn't know how. How could he have escaped like that? Kim wasn't sure how to feel. Was it okay that he escaped? Was it bad? She didn't trust him, but something was different about him. Now analyzing all of the details, he was right about everything.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" the pilot asked.

"I'm fine."

Kim was still incognito, and it was an odd feeling.

'_The Casablanca look kinda looks good on you, KP.'_

'_But Ron, it's so not me.'_

'_Kim, that's the point! You're in disguise.'_

'_Do you really think this is going to work?'_

'_Trust me, it will.'_

Ron's voice… so soothing in a cold area like this. She didn't wish to dwell on the past of anything anymore. Back in the old days, if a baddie got away, she would either go after them or, when in a really good mood, get them the next time. As confused as she was as to who Val really was, she decided to act upon the latter. Right now, she'd enjoy life.

If it weren't for that noisy cardboard box vibrating behind her, she'd take a nap.

But the thought of sleeping in her bed compared to this, she could wait. Head home and crash into bed, just like in high school. And that's what she did.

* * *

Kim started waking up, but everything wasn't what it seemed. She could have sworn that she went to bed, but something was wrong. 

This wasn't a bed. This was a chair.

And why were her hands tied up? Oh, if only she could see, but she was blindfolded.

"I've finally captured you… we'll just have to see if the experiment was a success."

Finally, whoever her captor was released.

"No way, Val? What…"

Something wasn't right at all. He looked so much different than she remembered. He was still built, and it was still hard to picture him with those sapphire eyes… eye, that is. He was wearing an eye patch over his right eye.

"Don't talk to me in that manner, Empress Possible."

"Empress? What… what are you talking about?"

Val made a lot of noise walking around her, the sound of ammunition, equipment, chains on his shoes, and it appeared he turned his left cybernetic arm into some kind of powerhouse rail gun.

"Either the experiment was a success, or you've mastered the art of bluffing."

He quickly turned around and put a knife tightly against her neck.

"Kim, this vein on your neck works in conjunction with your nervous system. Nerves respond to physical and mental actions. If you do anything as to lie, this vein will twitch, and my knife will pierce right through it. So just be a good little girl and tell the truth."

Kim kept silent, but bit her lip. This was enough acknowledgement.

"Just answer this one question: What do you last remember?"

Kim answered this easily. "I went to bed in my room as I usually do, although it was a week after I met you in the jail cell."

She could feel the tension on her neck lessen.

"I suppose it was a success."

"Val, what's going on, why… where are we, and what happened with you?"

"Allow me to open the window."

Kim didn't notice that there were blinds to her left, an empty wall on her right, and some rusted machinery behind Val. He slowly made his way to the blinds, and Kim almost went into shock with what she saw. She was in Middleton, and it was completely destroyed. It wasn't like that 'dream' of hers where it was remade into Shegoton, no. It was the apocalypse. Nothing but destruction for miles.

"No… we failed…"

"Correction, Kim. I failed."

"But if you failed to kill Brown, how are you still alive?"

"What are you talking about? Oh, wait, that was a few years ago."

"Years?"

"A lot's happened in the last five years, and I captured you and erased your mind for five years, hoping to see what the old Kim Possible I knew in the past thought of it."

"What happened? Did Brown do all this?"

"No."

"Then who did?"

"You."

Kim's eyes quickly dried up, her skin instantly going pale. "No… you're lying. You're lying!"

"Not at all. I can see this is going to-"

Before Val knew it, Kim had released herself from the ropes on her hands and the chains on her legs, and was holding him in the air single-handedly by his throat.

"What on earth happened?"

He didn't appear scared. "You became obsessed with your sense of duty, becoming the very thing you vowed to destroy."

Her state of shock only got worse, dropping him on the floor.

"Five years?"

Val pointed to the wall behind her. "See for yourself."

Kim only got more depressed. First, she failed to save the world, second, Val tells her she's responsible for destroying it, and third, her appearance. Behind her was a mirror, and she couldn't even recognize herself. Like Val, she also wore an eye patch on her right eye, her hair was much shorter and dirtier, her skin was extremely dirty, like she had been swimming in a dirty lake, and with a large scar covering her right eye along with the eyepatch. She wasn't a little girl anymore, but she didn't expect to grow up into this.

"Val… where's Ron?"

He kept silent for a few seconds.

"VAL!"

Val dusted himself off after getting onto his feet. "That's also right… you broke off everything."

"Everything?"

"You were engaged… you were… well…"

She quickly turned around and grabbed him by his shoulders. "I need to know what happened!"

He sighed. "I'll begin from day one."

He motioned her to sit down again, and she did. She kept her eyes on the floor, but paid the utmost attention to him.

"It's almost been six years since our last encounter, and if I remember telling you correctly, Brown needed to be stopped. I escaped, hiding in the landing gear of your plane. It took me a good week to make it up to Washington, and I was able to terminate Brown. Unfortunately, I found out that she anticipated my attack. I thought I had her, but she actually had me. I thought I had the nukes hidden, but she found them and had other Judgments developed. The last thing to initiate this was her death, and once her vitals went offline, the nukes were launched. It also turned out to be the day where America went into another civil war, all because of the petty fight between left and right, republican and democrat, conservative versus liberal. But it wasn't just four nukes, it was enough to destroy the world, and she did. Many people died, but your family, Stoppable's family, friends and all survived."

"Wow…"

"However, the civil war broke out into a world war, just as Brown anticipated. Every leader of every country was taken out from the nukes, so that left the world in a permanent state of chaos. Word got out that you and Ron survived, and the world was separated into four. One was a pacifist movement, one was a democratic movement, one was an anarchy movement, and the last was one that allowed the people to form their own government. You were the leader of the pacifist movement, Ron was the democratic one, and I was of the free people, not the anarchists."

"What happened? Why did Ron and I separate?"

"Difference of beliefs. The pacifists wanted you to work with them, since you're about doing the right thing no matter what. However, Ron did not have the exact same belief system you did, but he had enough power and somehow gained the confidence to lead a new world. At first, you worked together, and… well… how do I put this…"

"Keep going. I don't care how you word it."

"You worked together as one country, and he proposed to you."

"He finally did? What happened next?"

"You found out you were already pregnant with his child."

"Oh…"

"But that was the beginning of the end. First of all, your political differences forced you two to debate endlessly, more so on your side. You let your power go to your head, believing that you were the only true voice of what was right. You lost interest in Ron and started to focus on the government you commanded. It got to the point where the two factions waged war on each other, but you and Ron took no part in it. But it got to the point where you were determined to stop it. It was the same on his end. Your militaries informed you that there was one person responsible for it, and they would be on a dam that connected both factions. You told them you'd handle it, and Ron did the same. Later, you both would meet there, and there was a long argument. Ron didn't want to fight, but you changed. You thought you needed to finish the fight for the people, even if Ron had to die."

"That's impossible."

"Look at your fingers."

Kim did, and she saw the marks where a ring once was.

"Even though you were eight months pregnant, you were bent on stopping the war. But Ron later decided that the world couldn't be ruled by someone with lost ideals. You risked your child to fight him in one final decisive battle."

"No… I don't believe it."

"It was a short fight, and Ron was only focused on knocking you out. However, each time he went for a jab at your neck, you caught it and went so far as to fracture and dislocate both his arms. You didn't appear to care when you broke a couple of his ribs."

He stopped when he saw that Kim was crying.

"I remember…"

* * *

Ron was bleeding, crying and unable to move his arms. 

"Kim… why? How could you do this? For crying out loud, you're going to be a mother!"

Kim just stood next to him in her battle suit. "We're not the only ones that matter in the world, Ron. My people need me."

"KP, what about _your _child? What about _our _child?"

"Ron, the engagement's off."

She had no emotion on her face when she removed the ring from her fingers.

"Kim…"

He looked so weak with the tears in his eyes, but Kim's face was not one of remorse. But she held it out to him, and he used any energy left in him, despite the dislocated arm, to take it.

Instead, Kim grabbed his arm, pulled him up, and threw him over the edge of the dam.

"Goodbye."

* * *

Kim quickly collapsed on the floor, banging her head into the concrete, not only staining it, but also breaking it. 

"No! Why! Why! WHY!"

"He didn't die, Kim."

"What?"

She tried to wipe the tears and traces of concrete off her face, but her whole face was red, and not just with blood.

"He somehow survived, but…"

"The child?"

"You had a miscarriage shortly after."

Kim sat on her knees. That was everything. She lost a child and what she did to Ron was unforgivable. She didn't appear fazed when Val tossed an old Beretta her way.

"There's one bullet in the clip. I'll leave you alone."

She didn't even let him walk away before she grabbed the gun, aimed it and pulled the trigger, ending everything.

* * *

A scream. 

"Kimmie-cub, what's wrong?"

Everything was dark, and blinding lights in the darkness didn't help any. She slowly opened her eyes to see her dad and mom next to her.

"Mom… dad?"

"We're here, Kim," her mom smiled. "It looks like you were just having a nightmare."

Kim quickly looked around, finding her room the exact way she remembered it. The computer, trophies, picture collection, phone, closet.

"It's okay, Kimmie. It was just a bad dream."

Kim soon noticed she had tears on her face, and her pillow was soaked.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Her mom offered.

"I think just knowing it wasn't real is good enough for me."

She quickly hugged both of her parents tightly, and they could tell she didn't want to talk about it. After Kim let go, her parents let her be, and she tightened her grip on Pandaroo as they shut off the lights.

Unfortunately, she couldn't sleep the rest of the night and decided to call Ron. It was funny; she never realized that he had been on the last twenty calls on her phone. She didn't expect for him to pick up immediately since it was four in the morning, and she didn't expect for him to sound energetic.

But he did pick up immediately, and he sounded like he hadn't gone to sleep at all.

"_KP? What's wrong…?"_

"I had a really, really bad nightmare."

"_You too?"  
_

"What?"

"_I also had a really horrible nightmare."_

"The one where Val told you it was the end of the world and you destroyed it?"

"_Well, sorta, only that I had Nev tell me that it was five years in the future, and he said that you killed me and I had some kind of brain damage that didn't let me remember the last five years."_

"The apocalypse?"

"_Y… yeah, and that you… we…"_

"You proposed and I had a miscarriage?"

"_Y… Yeah…"_

A slight pause.

"Wow… that's the second time we had the same dream…"

"_You okay? You sound a lot worse than I do."_

"I guess it had a harder impact on me. How are you feeling?"

"_I hit my head on the wall when I woke up, so I'm feeling a bit groggy there, but I've had a few bad dreams before, so I guess I've gotten used to them. I'm just surprised you called a minute or two after I woke up."_

"Sorry to bother you again."

"_Nah, KP. It's cool. I'm always here for you, you know that."_

Kim smiled. "Thanks, Ron."

"_Feel better?"_

"Oh, much. When someone tells me that I nearly killed the man I love, just hearing his voice again makes everything feel better."

"_Same here. Good to know you're still the same KP I've known."_

"Ron, if I ever become some heartless woman bent only on some twisted logic of justice, just do me a favor and knock me out and tie me up. Remind me of who I really am."

"_I don't think that'll be necessary, but if it comes to that, I'll be glad to deliver the Ronshine. I promise."_

"Thanks, babe."

"_Think you can sleep?"_

"I don't know. You?"

"_Eh, not really. Too bad we can't sneak out."_

"We got in trouble the last time. So if we wanna see each other today, it'll have to wait."

"_Sure. I'm not busy."_

"Me neither. Great. I want to see if I can cook you breakfast… if you don't mind, that is."

"_Hey, after the last meal you cooked, I'm in no position to protest anymore."_

"Anymore?"

"_Oops."_

"Ron, what do you mean by that?"

"_I… uh…"_

"Ron, you can be honest. It's okay."

"_Do I have to?"_

"Yes…"

"_Awww… okay… You're not a bad cook, but… for a moment I kinda preferred Jen's rations over your cooking."_

"You're serious?"

"_Don't cry, KP."_

"I'm not crying, it's from earlier."

"_Seriously?"_

"Seriously."

"_Okay, but when we got back to Middleton and you cooked me that dinner, since you were glad it was over, that was really, _really_ good."_

"So you weren't lying."

"_Kim, you've seen me eat at Bueno Nacho. You know when I like a good meal."_

"I guess I'm learning, huh?"

"_Yup. So breakfast, eh?"_

"I figured I could, since I've been getting help from mom, too."

"_When Ron's not good enough, call mom!"_

"Ron, don't say that. You know it's nothing like that at all."

"_I know, I'm just playing. So what's after that?"_

"I figured we could just hang out like the old days, since school's going to start soon."

"_Don't remind me. So a date just like old times?"_

"We'll visit the tree house while we're at it."

"_I always like our tree house moments. What about tonight?"_

Kim noticed the tickets near the phone.

"You said you wanted to check out that poetry-slash-karaoke bar Val gave us tickets to?" Kim made sure she pronounced it right.

"_Heck yeahs. You said we can get in free on Fridays because of it, right?"_

"That's what it says. Two for Free."

"_Where's it at again?"_

"It says Upperton."

"_Swell. I know the way."_

"Spankin'."

"_So breakfast, day long date, tree house, and karaoke bar?"_

No surprise Ron knew how to pronounce it correctly. He never told Kim of the times Sensei hit him with a stick when he mispronounced Japanese words.

"Works for me."

"_I thought you hated karaoke bars."_

"I thought I did, too. But I haven't been to them since freshman year."

"_KP, you're thinking of poetry mic nights."_

"Oh… yeah. Well, it doesn't hurt to expand my horizons."

"_There ya go. So… four more hours?"_

"Works for me. Thanks, Ron."

"_You're muy welcome, KP. Sleep well if you can."_

"Thanks. You too."

"_Bye."_

"Bye."

* * *

So the day went as planned. While the two slept in later than they anticipated, Kim still had breakfast ready by the time Ron arrived, and the results were quite pleasing. Rufus took some more pictures of this one. After that, the two went all over the city, actually finding a lot of sights they never noticed before, even though they lived here their whole lives. 

Most of the day was spent in the tree house, the longest make out session ever for the two. The mission was long over, but the two hadn't had much time to see each other, since school was going to begin soon. Kim had decided to enroll at Upperton University as a Science Major, and Ron was accepted into Upperton community college with a business major. Bueno Nacho would always be his second love, and Ben Ferno would have loved him to work there. But to Ron, he didn't want to move onto a career immediately. This led to a lot of plans on how things would happen, mostly paperwork and money. The two didn't want to be too far away from each other, obviously. Would Ron have to get his own apartment? A roommate? Unfortunately, Felix was headed to a college far west of the state. The thought of dorms weren't too bad for Kim, until she actually visited them. They had great teachers and programs, but her fellow students were another story. The noise was too much for her, and she learned from the residents that noise rules weren't enforced. It was like this for every floor of every hall. She also had a share of listening to a lot of uncomfortable stories from people passing by. No wonder Ron wasn't too social these days.

She wanted to live at her own place, but the college required that freshmen live in the dorms. Luckily, they made special accommodations for her, due to the fact that she saved the dean a while back from a car accident when his brakes refused to work on a mountain.

So, after a bit of thought, the two had the idea of living with each other in an apartment. Ron could now easily get a job at Bueno Nacho thanks to almost infinite referrals by Ben Ferno, and he could probably get her a job at the same place if she wanted. But Kim could land one at the Club Banana store up there. They were both iffy about bringing the idea to their parents, but to their astonishment, their parents loved the idea, since they saw that their children had been dating for the last fourteen years or so.

All of that had kept them busy, and the two hadn't had some alone time since Bay City. It was a good thing Ron's parents couldn't see what was going on inside the tree house from inside, or else they'd get suspicious as to how long they were up there. Nothing but kissing, cuddling, a small nap, and more of the same. They hadn't had together time in the last couple of weeks, so this was a nice change, and both more than made up for it.

When it was over, they found a small surprise on Ron's driveway: A motorcycle with a note. It was from Nev, thanking them for not only accepting what he was, and knowing that the two needed a means of transport. It wasn't Erik's bike, but far more stylish. It also came with a fake license so he could drive legally, but of course, he'd have to get a real one soon. Because this was their first date in a month, they thought they would dress up formally for the poetry/ karaoke bar.

Ron arrived at Kim's place with a semi-casual semi-formal look. He was surprised to see her parents' eyes glued to the TV.

"What's going on?" he asked. They only got like this when something bad happened.

Kim's dad only pointed to the television.

"_The cause appears to be some kind of chemical leak in the Senator's house, but chemical experts claim that such a chemical with this side effect is not created by household gases. Authorities believe that the Senator was assaulted with this, due to bruises visible on her neck. Unfortunately, doctors believe that this condition is mandatory, and it is unlikely the Senator will recover. She is in a state of completel hysterical fear, unable to form words. Again, Senator Kathryn Brown, the Senator of-"_

As the said person was shown screaming to death from the sight of a hot dog, the TV was shut off as someone entered the room.

"Hello, baby."

All eyes were turned to Kim. A familiar scene with a familiar black dress.

Ron immediately covered his eyes. "Won't freak out, won't freak out, won't freak out."

To no one else's surprise, Kim took his arms off his face and wrapped them around her.

Ron quickly whispered. "Kim? You're wearing that again?"

"We said we were going to dress up. You don't mind, do you?" she whispered back.

"No, not at all."

Kim's parents didn't seem to notice their quiet conversation. Instead, they were at the window.

Her mom almost jumped at the sight. "Ron? Is that a motorcycle?"

He shared a sly look with Kim before he answered. "It was a gift. And don't worry, it runs smooth. So what time should I have Kim back?"

Kim gave both her parents the puppy dog pout from behind him.

Her dad took some time with it. "I just want to see her sleeping in her bed by the time I wake up."

Both Kim and Ron's eyes widened.

"Cool," Ron replied without thought.

Just before Kim was about to grab him and head out, the phone started to ring. Kim noticed her mom had a concerned look on her face from the kitchen.

"Kim, it's for you."

Kim also noticed her mom pointed upstairs. Private talkie.

"Be right back," Kim told Ron as she darted upstairs.

* * *

Kim checked the caller ID on her phone. UNKNOWN NAME, it read. She slowly picked up the receiver. 

"Um, hello?"

"_Convinced?"_

Kim turned a bit pale when she recognized the voice. "Val? How did you get this number?"

"_Possible, Timothy James. Middleton. You're listed."_

"What do you want?"

"_Is this a bad time?"_

"Well, I was just about to go on another date with Ron to that karaoke bar you gave us tickets to."

"_Oh, of course. My apologies."_

"Well, you called for a reason…"

"_I just wanted to thank you for getting me out from the prison and letting me complete my objective…"_

"I didn't get you out."

"_Au contraire, if not for you, I wouldn't have been able to escape."_

"I gotta ask: How?"

"_Leapt onto the ceiling and crawled behind your head into your blind spot. Even if you looked straight up, you wouldn't see me. I let the shadows do the rest. When you got out of the cell, I was right above you. I released myself when the coast was clear and you ran to find a guard. Since your ride was a transport vehicle, I hid in an empty cardboard box."_

"You're… kidding, right?" It was the very thing bothering her on the plane.

"_No. It's actually a popular method for infiltration."_

She couldn't believe it. He was next to her the whole time. "Where are you now?"

There was a pause.

"…_Very close by."_

Kim looked out her window. "No."

He was nowhere in sight._ "Not _that_ close. Middleton really is a nice place. I just figured since I was in town, I'd call and say thanks. It's not like I'm going to pay a visit and spray a toxin up your nose."_

"So it really was you who attacked her."

"_Of course."_

"How were you able to find her?"

"_I knew where to find her the whole time, but I couldn't get past her security with the nanos sending out a tracking signal, even with chaff. Since your Kimmunicator fried them, I snuck in easily."_

"But you didn't kill her."

"_I discovered an alternative. She's alive but now she will never be able to continue her work. She's nothing more than a vegetable now living in endless fear. There are worse consequences than death itself. Rest easy, it's over. I couldn't have done it without you."_

Kim wasn't sure what to make of it.

"_Go on and enjoy your date, and continue to live your life in your own world. I'll play in mine. Perhaps some day I will return the favor. Adieu."_

Before Kim could respond, Val hung up.

* * *

Kim quickly made her way back downstairs. Unfortunately, she was reminded of another thing: High heels were anything but ideal for running, especially up and down the stairs. 

"Kim, was that who I thought it was?" her mom asked.

"Val?" Ron guessed. "What did he want?"

"To say thanks…" Kim quietly answered.

Everyone in the room was confused.

"That's it, though. No threat or warnings. C'mon, Ron."

Before he could respond, Kim dragged him out the front door. Both her parents watched from inside as Ron helped Kim onto the bike. It looked as if they were talking to each other.

* * *

Kim put on her helmet. "So he actually did it… but… he didn't kill her." 

Ron secured his. "Wacky gas… And I thought it was just in the movies."

"Honestly, I'm surprised."

"Me too."

Both sat quietly as Ron started the bike. Kim was quick to wrap her arms around him and lean her head on his back.

"Come on, Ron. Let's enjoy the night."

Ron smiled. "You've got it, KP."

From there, the two drove off into the sunset. They were more concerned with this date than anything else, but as always, they were ready for anything.

* * *

Kim's mom sighed. "They're growing up." 

Mr. Dr. Possible put an arm around his wife. "They sure are, but I wouldn't have Kimmie grow up with anybody else. They'll be okay."

* * *

It took the two nearly an hour to get to Upperton, and a quick feeling of nostalgia went through both of them. They weren't as familiar with the area as they thought since the sun had already set, so they had to take several turns over and over to find the place. They even went past Upperton Lake, the site of their previous engagement with Val, and Kim could see that there were still pieces of scrap metal on the surface of the water and the shore. 

It turns out the place was downtown, and once they got there, their eyes went toward sky. The feeling was even more nostalgic.

"Ron, it's just like Prom."

Indeed, the stars were glowing, as was the moon. Not only was the skies a reminder of when they got together, but it was actually the same moon that lit the buildings that Val ran on once he heard of them.

"No kidding."

Noticing that Kim put both her hands on his shoulder, Ron smiled and put one on her hands, seeing as they were almost twice the size as one of them. They slowly made their way inside.

* * *

Meanwhile, down the street… 

"Here."

"What's this for?"

"A drink I never paid for."

The bartender looked confused. "Hey… are you old enough to be in here, anyway?"

His teenage customer only tilted his head. "Old enough to know what death looks like."

The bartender shrugged. "Works for me."

It wasn't long before he realized the money wasn't just for a drink. It was… enough to buy a house.

"Hey, what is this all for?"

The teenager turned around and made his way to the door. "This place is a wreck."

Unfortunately, Fridays at The Bum Rap were never good. The worst of the worst made their way here. Many of the bikers, thugs and gangsters noticed the money, and it wasn't long before the stranger had guns aimed at his back.

He didn't appear to care. "Head low."

The bartender hid behind the counter as everything went to hell. The sound of glass breaking, guns firing, tables and chairs being broken were the only sounds he could make out. It only lasted a minute long, and when he rose up, the whole place was trashed. Every customer had been knocked out, most knocked through a chair or table. The drinks behind the counter weren't affected. He almost yelped when the teenager made a swift move, grabbing a fine drink near him. The bartender still had no idea what just happened, now that his young customer walked past broken wood and bodies to the only chair and table that wasn't broken. He was quick to pull off the cap and suck it down.

However, one of the gangsters wasn't completely out. He slowly crawled toward the stranger, quickly getting up and slammed a knife through his left hand. Unfazed, the entity pulled the now twisted and broken knife from the impenetrable limb. He tossed the broken weapon back to its owner, who ran screaming out of the place.

After enjoying the drink, he put it into the garbage can and made for the exit.

"Spend that money wisely."

With that, Val left and became one with the night.

* * *

A few blocks away, "The Shooted" _(not a typo)_ was what Kim expected for a poetry/ karaoke bar. A lot of chairs and tables with a center stage and a small bar for drinks. She ordered a soda while Ron went for a seat. 

"_Is that… no, it can't be…"_

It appeared that Kim and Ron's presence caught someone's attention, more so when Kim came to sit down, exceptionally close to Ron and leaned her head on his shoulders.

"_You've _got _to be kidding."_

The figure just continued to watch as people sang love songs, spoke out about hopeless romance and the like. Seeing Kim and Ron in this way was… just sick and wrong. It went on for minutes, and the figure just couldn't get it out of their mind.

Just when the mood was going so well, the romance between the two was shattered as a familiar voice was singing.

"Loooooovving yoooooooou is eaasssy cause your…. Beaaautiufluuuuuulll!"

It was enough to knock Ron off of his seat, but Kim almost gasped when she saw who was on stage.

"DRAKKEN?"

The blue man in on the stage recognized her. "Kim Possible? Oh no, what are you doing here?"

"Maybe I should ask you the same question!"

What Kim didn't expect was for Drakken to change his appearance. He actually opened up his trenchcoat, having some stylish black shirt on, and he let his hair hang out like a mullet.

"Well, I wasn't going to stay in prison for the next ten years!" Drakken countered before blowing a raspberry.

Ron finally got up, rubbing his head. "If he's here, we know that Shego's not too far."

A dark silhouette jumped out, revealing the green rogue herself.

"You've got that right." The emerald blaze dimmed when she noticed Kim was checking on Ron's head. "Honestly, I can't believe this. Are you two… I mean… are you actually _dating _the buffoon? Kim Possible is dating Ron Stoppable?"

Ron's eyes lightened up. "Hey, she remembered my name, too!"

Kim didn't seem too enthusiastic. "Don't call him that."

Shego didn't seem intimidated in any way. She too had a different appearance, but unlike Drakken, it was not done on her own will."So what are you going to do about it?"

Drakken knew where this was going. "Shego, not now! Why must you always ruin Karaoke Night?"

Ron also knew. "Kim, I thought we said no fistfights on Ron night!"

But that wasn't going to stop an old rivalry. The two guys quickly motioned for people to get out just as the two women exchanged fighting stances.

Kim took a particular liking to the change Shego made. "_Love_ the scar on the left cheek. It fits."

Shego growled. It was the one bloody wound on her after Kim kicked her into the Bueno Nacho Satellite Tower a few months back. It was one that never healed.

"You know, I never said thanks for it," her green hands ignited more powerful than ever, "But allow me to return the favor!"

"Not again!" both Drakken and Ron cried in unison.

The rivalry continued as Kim and Shego leapt into the air and engaged each other in combat yet again. It started right where it left off.

**THE END**


End file.
